A World Unkown
by Diana Obelisk
Summary: Anita Heathers in known by many names. She exists in many worlds. And when fate decides something, she rarely listens. But what will happen when fate finally gives her what she wants? Sequel to Images.
1. A Family Trip

**Disclaimer: I do not actually use any characters in this story that are not mine. HAH. Take that. But I will in the next chapter, and after that. So, y'know, they aren't mine. **

**Oh, and sorry about the whole Mary-Sue thing. I can't help it. (You'll see.)**

1-Family Trip

Anita Heathers. She is tall, blonde, and witty. She is also the heroine of this story. Or, perhaps more accurately, she is the victim.

Currently, she stands in the belly of the ship _Boutique_, thinking about the oddness of the name as she becomes most thoroughly unfed. While in the past, she had regarded herself as invincible to most things, as children are oft to do, and this long list included seasickness. In fact, she had felt the best when it came to that—she couldn't think of anything better than a large wooden object floating in the sea just waiting to be struck with something and hit bottom.

Of course, when her friend parsed it that way, her response was simple. "Don't you know ships are all made of metal these days?" she had responded.

Her eyes are puffy, though she wouldn't dare to let anyone know she had been crying, and her face is still stained from the residue of her tears.

But that is now. The story to come is extremely boring; wouldn't you rather hear about what has already happened? It is much more entertaining, I assure you. Oh, you do want to hear it? Good. I thought that might be the case. It ought to be, anyway.

It had started, a bit similarly, on another boat, hunched over quite a similar bowl, becoming, even then, quite thoroughly unfed. For despite the conditions and her former beliefs, Anita was not in any way immune to the sickness brought on by the rocking on the boat.

Still, despite the bile rising again and again, she was laughing, adding even more rocking and heaving as she drew herself breathless, tears in the corners of her eyes from the force of it. She could feel them, even then. They quivered.

Her mother kept talking, barely able to keep the giggles out of her voice. Anita would usually have laughed a bit and moved on, but the current conditions had caused a rise in the spirits of everyone. They were going to Ireland.

This was something Anita Heathers, Skulduggery Pleasant fanatic and a girl in love with all things Irish (accepting, perhaps, the boys—she only really cared about the skeletons, after all) had long awaited for. And, well, there wasn't anything she was going to worry about as they neared Dublin.

Dublin! Home of Derek Landy, yes, and the city where Anita hoped—hoped and even dared to believe—that she would find the skeleton detective of his works. And, yes, the wonderful Valkyrie Cain, too. Irish could describe the city, and, as such, she loved it with no other knowledge. After all, she had taken the description of Irish to be nearing the wonder and amazement of divine.

So as she returned to the deck and leaned against the railing just in time to see the boat docking at harbor, still wiping tears from her eyes and fighting back her giggles, it was no wonder that she let out a sigh, in one breath expressing her joy and the longing that had plagued her for what had seemed like centuries, whispering something that the wind immediately snatched from her lips.

**A/N: Sorry if I did this wrong. I dunno how to do these things. This is my first fanfic. They are always with Mary-Sues. Sorry, but I can't help it. But won't you guys agree that Lord Vile, Skulduggery, Darquesse, and Kira count as Mary-Sues? Oh, and there are ways to kill her...and keep her dead. Sorry. Not likely. Although very, very possible. But not until I get you all nice and attatched. So, please review!**


	2. Family Death

**Disclaimer: I do not, sadly, own Skulduggery Pleasant. Less sadly, but still true (and somewhat sad) I do not own Ghastly, or Tanith, or Valkyrie. Or any other affiliated characters. I do own my mistakes, but I don't own the idea of owning my mistakes. I do own Anita Heathers, since I came up with her. I don't own the idea for that, either. I suppose I do not have a lot of intellectual property. Ah, well...**

2-Family Death

Anita smiled as she got off of the boat, happy as she could have been. So this was it. She was finally in Ireland. What to do…what to do.

"_Well, first—"_ she started. As she turned her head to catch more sun, she stopped abruptly. There was a man by the docks. He was tall and thin, with a hat and sunglasses over frizzy hair and a scarf. As she slowed, her parents catching up even as she took in his exquisite suite, a girl walked up next to him.

Anita gasped. The girl was tall, lean and strong-looking, with dark hair and dark eyes, wearing all black. Slowly, Anita breathed out. Could it be? No, it couldn't be! Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain…it couldn't be as easy as _that…_could it? No.

But his hand was creeping to what must have been a filled holster, wasn't it?

Skulduggery straightened up and turned. A girl was staring at him, her eyes wandering over his attire, and he could feel something, see a glint of recognition in her eye, his hand moving inexplicably to the gun at his hip. He had barely even noticed it when Valkyrie stepped up beside him and the girl watching them breathed out, a word, something too far away for him to hear.

Why did he feel like he recognized her? No, he couldn't. But she recognized him.

Her parents—or, at least, he assumed they were her parents—caught up to her, and as they stepped to the dock together, Skulduggery saw the parents say that the directions were missing. Their lips were easy to read, and suddenly he knew they were Americans.

"What's wrong?" Valkyrie asked.

Shaking himself from his reverie, Skulduggery said, "Nothing. Nothing at all, just an American girl saw me. It isn't important." His voice, he realized, was shaking. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see them coming up to them—the tall girl with the glasses and the long, blonde hair was beaming.

"_Oh, please no,"_ he thought. _"Please don't come over here. Oh, they are. Oh, no, it must have been the girl's idea. Oh, god no…"_

"Excuse me," she said, "but we seem to have misplaced out directions. You wouldn't happen to know where the…uh…the…" She grumbled as she looked at a printed paper in her hands, squinting slightly. "The Arbinger Inn would be, would you?"

Skulduggery _would_ have frowned, if his façade was up, but as it was, he merely grunted. She sounded faintly British…but no, she didn't have the same accent as the Brits, not like Tanith's even. But she didn't exactly sound American. She stood oddly, and it took him a moment before he saw that she was raised on tiptoe, her eyes gentle and yet burning with a fire fiercer than he had ever seen. She seemed ready to take flight at any moment. So…odd. She was odd, and that was the only description he could think of.

"Up the road, to the left," he found himself saying. "You're new here, aren't you? What's your name?"

The girl smiled tightly, "I'm…I'm…" she cast around for a name suitable for the situation before blurting out, "I'm Ruckt'l!"

"Ruckt'l?" Valkyrie asked.

"Close enough. Human vocal cords—or the sound produced by the memory of having human vocal cords—cannot recreate the sound," Ruckt'l informed them. Skulduggery mused about how well this fit—a name that could not be pronounced for a girl who did not fit. She was like a puzzle piece forced to fit in a place where it did not belong, and yet…

"Anita!" the mother cried harshly, clearly shocked by her daughter's conduct. "Do not spread this foolishness about like this." Turning to Skulduggery and Valkyrie, she continued, "I'm sorry about this. Her name is Anita, and I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it. She's…eccentric, you could say. I really am sorry."

The entire time her mother was talking, the girl, Ruckt'l, Anita, whatever her name was, muttered, her eyes closed, hands clenched. A sudden breeze knocked the hat off of Skulduggery's head.

Even as he snatched to grab it, his sunglasses fell off, and he simply froze. Everything was still, silent. The other passengers had left already, and the docks were empty. Only these people could see. That was good. Fewer people for the sanctuary agents to have to erase memories from. That was good.

But the girl laughed. "I told, you, Mom. I told you—it's him! I told you we'd find them! Oh, thank god…Skulduggery…don't worry. We're American, but we're magic, too. We never looked for the Sanctuary, and since no one was there to teach us, there wasn't anything we had to worry about. A few people avoided me, but…"

When she said his name, Skluduggery remembered all in a rush. The dream, a week before, when he was meditating, about a girl all in white, her hair spread around her head and her eyes closed as if she was sleeping. A flower was clasped in pale, bloodless hands, a flame flickering in its centre just as there seemed to be a white flame under the girl's skin. The boat she was in pushed off, and the men crowded about the stone where she was let go of tried to keep back their tears. The woman he faced had told him, _"That is how I will die—that is my funeral. You will have to send me off, one day, you know that, right?"_

And that was when he woke. But, no, it couldn't be…she couldn't be…it was all just a dream, right?

"Listen, I don't know what you're talking about," Valkyrie tried.

"It's no use, Valkyrie. I don't know who these people are, but I know that she—" the gun Skulduggery found in his hand pointed at Anita Heathers, for he knew her name now, and he continued levely, "will try something on me. I don't know what, but she has plans."

The girl looked stunned, and stepped back. "No…no, it isn't supposed to be like this. It's not supposed to be like this!" she screamed, and as Skulduggery's hand trembled, his finger tightening on the trigger, the gun already cocked, a voice sounded out from behind him, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. I shouldn't like to have to arrest you, my friend."

Ghastly put one hand on his shoulder and pulled Skluduggery back gently. "This is important, Ghastly."

"Indeed it is. I'm glad you showed up—by the way, now I've met you, I'll be getting all of my magic back. Find Tanith, I think I can free her," Anita said.

Ghastly's fingers tightened uncontrollably, and by the time he pulled back, it was too late. The gun dropped, firing. The girl Anita, burst into flames as she screamed. Her parents yelled and tried to pull back but the water behind them erupted and pulled them in, and the girl stopped screaming as the blood soaked through her shirt. Her mouth was open wide, her eyes bulging.

"No…" Skulduggery whispered. "No…I remember you now. Your name…your name is Rhyanna. No! No!" And then he was yelling at the sky, "I didn't mean to kill her! That's how it works, right? If I didn't want to shoot her, it doesn't activate! The runes only work if it was on purpose, right? Am I right, dammit?"

And he was on his knees, memories flitting out of reach as he blacked out, feeling as if blood soaked through his shirt, too, his lifeblood draining away.

**A/N: So this was a little longer. Remember how I would get you guys attatched? I may have lied. Sorry, guys. :P **

**But no, I hope you all loved it. I am very sorry, but the Mary-Sue-ness of Anita can't be avoided. I just can't do it. *sigh* So this will be very interesting. Ah, well. Oh, and she's awesome. Not as awesome as me, but awesome. So please review. I hope you like it. I hope you're not crying yet. Kind of. And L-kun and other characters will show up soon, I promise.**

**Just keep hitting that review button!**


	3. Never Too Late

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I have not come into the possesion of any of Derek Landy's creations, including Skulduggery Pleasant. We're all saddened by this, I am sure. I still own my mistakes and Anita.**

3-Never Too Late

Skulduggery woke in a hospital bed. At first, he didn't remember anything, but when the pain hit, uneasiness filled him. Something had happened. Something…bad. He realized that he was staring at the ceiling, and turned his head.

Valkyrie sat next to the bed, looking worried. Skulduggery lifted and arm to his head, only to realize that he was tied down.

"Sorry about that," she started, "but you wouldn't stop thrashing about. You fell twice before I would let Kenspeckle strap you down, though."

A dry chuckle escaped his teeth, and he nodded. "Understandable," he muttered.

And then the memories hit.

; 

_The gun fell, turning toward the girl and moving so, so slowly. As it hit, the runes all glowed a bright blue, suddenly popping into existence where before there had been only untouched metal. The blue pulsed, spiraling toward the barrel and the lead bullet leaving it. Then there was just her scream and the pain it caused, him screaming his remorse, and her blood. It spread in a pool, and he lay in it, unable to move, as a darkness claimed him…_

_; _

_It was August 16__th__. The girl he held in his arms had red hair, and no glasses, but it was Anita all the same. She sobbed and sobbed, and finally told him why. Her race, the Nafar, was extinct. The Hunters had killed them, and now there was nothing left. Suddenly, he hated them. They had caused her this much pain, murdered her mother and then let her blame herself for the death of her people._

_; _

_The joy when she heard of the camp lifted his heart. So she wasn't the last Nafar, after all. Her eyes shone with a light that had been dulled for what had been, to him, one year. To her, it had been a century. Suddenly her understood this torture that she lived with, always outside of time, never home, never able to live, always wishing she was somewhere else…_

_When her joy shifted to a determined fury, he knew the Nafar would soon be freed, and he couldn't help but admire the woman he had grown to love. If only she would allow for herself to believe that she was as magnificent as she actually was…but no, she had done terrible things, too, and he understood how hard it was to move past that._

_; _

With a cry, he broke out of the memories, and he realized he had been straining against his bonds. Valkyrie's hand lay gently on his arm, her eyes gentle and worried.

"I'm fine," he told her, seeing the question in her eyes.

He noticed the deep breathing that was over by his side because it suddenly stopped with a deep inhale. Whoever was in the bed to his left was awake. Kenspeckle, too, noticed, bustling over immediately.

"The bullet's out, and the wound is healing, but you should rest, for now," he told them.

"Oh. That's good. That's very good. You did that well, I'm sure. By the way, I'm pleased to meet you—you _are_ Kenspeckle Grouse, I presume? I thought so. I'm…Anita. Anita Heathers," she said.

Skulduggery gasped. So she was alive! He turned to see her, and the relief he felt was almost solid. If it was any stronger, he felt sure that the others would be able to taste it in the air.

His bonds fell away, and he slid smoothly out of bed. There was no hurry, not anymore. If she was alive, then everything was alright. As he approached the bed, Anita turned her head, a warm smile spreading across her face as soon as she saw him. Then she seemed to remember, and her face drew tight, her eyes filling with pain.

"Hello," Skulduggery said. She nodded, but still seemed tight. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry I shot you. It was accidental."

She smiled again, and the betrayal drained from her eyes again, as she replied, "Obviously, you didn't. Otherwise the runes would have activated and…" she gestured to her stomach, continuing, "I wouldn't be here, now would I? Plus, even if I had, your gun would be out right now."

Skulduggery sat, his hand reaching out to stroke her face. Her eyes closed as his finger brushed her cheek. "I never wanted to hurt you…I just…didn't remember, or didn't realize, I don't know…"

Valkyrie walked up behind them slowly, saying, "Well, at least he finally admitted that he was wrong about _something_. I've been trying to get him to do something like this for _months_."

Skulduggery leaned in, pressing his teeth against her forehead gently. He didn't remember it all, not yet, and he still didn't feel for her as he had, but there were remnants of the past there for him to know. He had loved her. In a way, he still did. And the pain in her eyes showed that Anita had never forgotten.

Eventually, he hoped to ease that pain away.

"So, Kenspeckle," Anita started, "When can I start to move about?"

"Well…" he started, "there was a lot of cloth in the wound, and it seemed a bit reluctant to heal, but you were asleep for a couple of days."

"How long, Kenspeckle?" Skulduggery insisted.

"Give it an hour. Only ginger movements—no running, no fighting. Don't stress the wound," Kenspeckle warned.

"Sir, yes, sir," Anita said, raising a mocking eyebrow. Kenspeckle grimaced before shuffling off, muttering something about having more work to do than he could afford and young people these days.

Skulduggery just sat there, and eventually Valkyrie pulled up a chair next to him, all three easing their way into conversation.

**A/N: So, a new update! Wa-ha-ha! And I see I've been getting some hits. And a few visitors. Thanks to all 8 of you! I hope you guys like it. A lot of Americans, I see, unless my friend is just checking on all of the computers she comes across. Ah, well, either way. And hi to you Canadians and Australians. How is it?**

**I hope to soon get British readers. Or Irish. Irish! Ha...that is one part of the story that is true. I do like Irish things. Love them, really. Maybe that's why I'm writing this...**

**Ok! There will soon be some Death Note-y action. As is: the next chapter. So keep reading, and, since I know I _have_ readers, make sure to review! Please? With a cherry on top?**

**Oh, and if you have friends in Ireland ( 3 ) or England or Germany, don't feel shy-go ahead and just recommend this. If you think it's recommendable.**

**And I see you guys have been checking for updates. So I've grabbed your attention. Now just a second while I go and find a real brainsucker.**

**Oh, and this will be set mainly after Death Bringer, but there will be some changes. For example:Kenspeckle. I say no more for those of you who haven't finished the series.**

**And now I will stop bothering you. :P**

**Just REVIEW! PLEASE!  
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	4. A Surprise Visitor

**Disclaimer: I still don't own any of the Skulduggery Pleasant or Death Note characters. TT_TT Though I don't want to own Serpine for very long...after a while, I just want to own his corpse...mutilated...oh, there I go again. Enjoy the reading! ^_^**

4- A Surprise Visit

"I still can't feel my magic, though," Anita was saying. "It's like it out of focus. I can't even get up a good fire, and as a fire-specified Nafar…well, you know how it is. Fire was everything to me in magic. I couldn't live without it."

"Maybe it's hiding?" Skulduggery asked.

"Not now, Skulduggery," Valkyrie sighed. "Please. I'm tired."

"Hm…" he replied. "And Anita and I are the ones who were hospitalized. How interesting."

"Shut up."

Anita smiled, glanced at the clock, and started to slip out of bed, saying, "It's been an hour, you know. I'm going to walk around for a bit."

Skulduggery stood. "We can go back to my house if you'd like, rest a bit…"

"That would be nice, but actually…I would like to see Dublin. Just some of it, but…well, this is the place of my dreams, you know," Anita commented.

"But of course. I'm here, aren't I?" Skulduggery said with a mock tone of surprise in his voice.

"Glad to see you're feeling better," Anita smiled, "but I think Kenspeckle is about to come and lecture us. Let's go now before he gets here."

They left quickly, and in a few minutes were driving through the city. Anita had been quite happy to take the backseat, and so Valkyrie sat next to Skulduggery as he pointed out the landmarks, occasionally adding something to the conversation. Anita, on the other hand, remained mostly silent, staring out of the window a mere centimetre from the glass as they slid quietly past the city.

"Wait. Stop! Stop!" she suddenly cried. Valkyrie frowned. It was a quiet part of the city, with only one pedestrian—a man, with wild hair, a white shirt and too-long jeans, hunched over as he walked. While he looked strange, there didn't seem to be anything about him to warrant a special kind of interest.

Skulduggery tilted his head quizzically, but pulled over all the same. The moment he did so, Anita was out of the car, and despite Kenspeckle's precautions, running over to the man.

Skulduggery and Valkyrie got out of the car almost simultaneously, just in time to hear Anita shouting.

"Ryuuzaki! Ryuuzaki! Stop! Wait—Ryuuzaki!"

The man gasped, looked over his shoulder, and started to walk faster, but Anita's hand clapped over his shoulder, halting his movement and he turned.

His eyes were deeply shadowed and dark, small pupils swimming in grey irises, bulging out at them.

"Who…?" he asked, and Valkyrie noted that his voice was almost as smooth as Skulduggery's—almost, but not quite.

"You remember me, Lawliet," Anita said.

The effect was immediate. His eyes widened and then a grin spread across his face. "So it's you. Rhyanna Bredlau, correct?"

"I go by Anita now, but yes. Skulduggery's here too," Anita corrected him.

Skulduggery walked up, and though he didn't know the man, he recognized him immediately. He was the one, from the dream, who had started to lay white roses around her, he remembered. So he was one of them.

"I see…" he said.

"Well, we were just heading to my place, I think," Skulduggery said, "And if you wanted to come, I'm sure we could accommodate our needs."

"Actually, I'm working on a case right now," Ryuuzaki replied.

"Oh? So you're a detective, too?" Skulduggery mused.

Valkyrie coughed and they all sensed Anita wandering about. She was muttering to herself. As Skulduggery and Ruuzaki (who of course, the reader knows to be L, though none of the others know this—as such, he will be called L, but only in narrative. Characters will say Ryuuzaki if they use a name at all.) turned, they saw Anita pacing quickly, her arms waving about as if she were holding a very lively conversation.

"You know," Skulduggery called, "I used to have hallucinations, too, so I understand your predicament, but you might want to stop acting so outward with them."

Anita paused and looked up. "Oh, I know no one else can see them. Remember, though, that was once how I talked to _you_, especially when I wanted to figure something out. Which I do now."

"And what are you trying to figure out?" Skulduggery and L both asked at the same time.

"Well, you, Skulduggery, and you, Valkyrie, are both Irish. You were the ones that showed up the soonest. Go figure. Then you, Ryuuzaki, showed up two days later. You went to school in England, correct? So, then, I'm trying to figure out who will show up next," Anita explained.

"You mean…there're more?" Valkyrie asked.

"Yes."

Skulduggery sighed before walking to the car, saying, "I can tell this is going to be a long conversation. Come on, get in, all of you. And don't touch the radio."

Anita nodded, walking to the car. Valkyrie stepped in, and heard the man they had found say, "You seem to be taking my cooperation for granted."

"Yes, we are. Now get in the car, Ryuuzaki," Anita replied.

They drove home silently, and Valkyrie could tell by his rigidness that Skulduggery was not happy with the way things were going. That he hadn't said anything meant that either he wasn't mad enough or knew it wouldn't matter, or that he was incredibly angry and they were all in for trouble.

Valkyrie didn't like this at all. Skulduggery was acting out of character. It was still him, but she's never seen him like this. And how had Anita, the girl, known about Tanith? What did she think she could do? And what right did she have to just walk into their lives and take Skulduggery away from her!

"_Wait," _Valkyrie thought. _"Take Skulduggery away from me? What does that mean? Oh God…it isn't that, is it? We were always friends…"_

Then she remembered something Fletcher had told her about, something China had said. _"They were meant for each other."_ Or something like that. At the memory, Valkyrie felt her cheeks begin to burn.

Now what? She had seen how Skulduggery had acted around Anita when she was resting. Valkyrie didn't think she had a chance.

Skulduggery sat, driving them all to his home. He didn't want to, he didn't really know the man, but this was a mystery that he needed to solve. And he knew it was what Anita wanted, and if he could only remember why, he was sure that he wouldn't mind, but his memory was as full of holes as a swiss cheese…

But he _would_ figure this out. One way…or another.

L was intrigued. The girl knew his faked name, at least, that he'd used the in Kira investigation…

He shuddered. For one, someone knowing him like that was eerie, and most likely bad news. For another, remembering the investigation was never fun. Well, he _had_ had a lot of good experiences there, but they were all crowded out by the…dying. Heart attacks, it seemed, were not fun.

But how she knew his name, and how she and this man with her had both invaded his dreams, he did not know. But he loved a mystery. And this, though it was of little significance and would be unpaid, was well worth the effort. And her eyes…they seemed familiar.

But that was for another time. For now, they were pulling up to the house.

"So, you don't remember me, do you?" Anita asked once they had all settled down.

"I remember some. August 16th, 2010 and 2011. But nothing else. But we were close, I think," Skulduggery said. Anita just nodded.

"I remember nothing," L said.

"Neither do I, though if you were that close to Skulduggery, then you probably knew me too," Valkyrie agreed.

"Oh, yes. We were rather close. Not as close, perhaps, as you and Tanith were before the remnants, what, two years ago? By the way—when I _do_ finally get my magic back, I'll be able to fix that. But, no, Valkyrie, we were quite good friends," Anita said. At the mention of Tanith, Skulduggery tensed and Valkyrie paled, her hands balling up into fists, but neither said a word.

"So, then, who are you?" L asked cautiously.

"That is a very….complicated answer," Anita ventured. "But I will try to get it in a nutshell for you…hrmmm…well, you all know me. I am…was…well…" She sighed.

"You were my…wife?" Skulduggery asked.

Anita looked startled and wilted a bit. "Yes, I was," she commented softly. She seemed so, so sad at the moment.

Skulduggery stood and walked over to the sofa where she sat, crouching in front of her. She was a girl beyond tears, but her gaze was empty and sad, almost as if she was seeing into another world. He reached up and took her hands in his, feeling warm flesh ripple under the tight leather gloves.

He looked into her eyes and started to speak, softly. "You know, I never thought I would remarry, especially seeing that I'm who and what I am. But if I had to, I'm glad to know it was someone like you. You are…devoted. I loved you, once, Anita. That will never be gone."

He reached up to touch her face again, and a single tear started to escape, though her countenance was otherwise unchanged. "I still do love you, my dear, even if it isn't the same as…before. I can't really remember much, but I will, I'm sure."

And he sat next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her just a little bit closer, murmuring, "I can never really forget," in her ear.

"But you have. Don't you see? There's more, you know. So, so much more. I'm not even _human_. But you don't know that. Do you?" Anita cried.

"I do know that I wasn't the only one," Skulduggery said.

"_What_?" Valkyrie yelled.

"Me, too, right?" L inquired.

Anita nodded, stiff and pale. "I didn't think you would find out so quickly. Not that I mind!" she added hurriedly.

Before she could go on, though, she started straight up and bolted out of the sofa. Her hair started to glow, and she grinned as a flame crawled up her arm.

"About time…"she muttered as a man burst through the door, one hand red, his green eyes glittering in the light.

**A/N: Hi guys! A lot of hits, so you've been waiting for updates. Sorry it's been so long. Ah, well, it's here at last. And if you have comments, please review! Because I really, really, would _hate_ having to kill you...**

**Oh, and here starts Anita's epicness and some awkwardness between the Skull-man and L (no, I don't actually call Skulduggery 'the Skull-man' except for when I am being really silly) for...well, obvious reasons. I also plan on doing a multiverse with this character but a different storyline and more people later on-hopefully it'll be a little more cheery.**

**Bye now!**


	5. Soulstone

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Skulduggery Pleasant, Valkyrie Cain, L Lawliet, Nefarian Serpine or any other affiliated characters. All I've got is the plotline and Anita. **

8-Soulstone

Anita started straight up and bolted out of the sofa. Her hair started to glow, and she grinned as a flame crawled up her arm.

"About time…"she muttered as a man burst through the door, one hand red, his green eyes glittering in the light.

"About time?" L asked.

"Serpine?" Skulduggery gasped just a moment later.

"Hello, Skulduggery," the man said, stepping into the house. Valkyrie's eyes widened as she recognized him.

"But…you're dead!" she cried. "I watched you die!"

"Yes, you all thought you had killed me. It was painful, yes, but you will have to do a lot more than that to destroy me!" Serpine cried. His eyes glittered—dying and coming back had finally pushed him off of the edge.

"You crumbled into _dust_, Serpine," Skulduggery growled. "I used the _scepter_!"

"You underestimated me, detective, and that's all there is to it! A fatal mistake, wouldn't you agree?" Serpine snarled. With that, he pointed at Valkyrie.

As a scream rent the air, Anita growled, "Oh, no you don't!" and charged.

Her entire body was covered in flame now, and thought she was giving off a blistering heat, there was no reaction to show that she was hurt. She reached out a hand, and fire shot at Serpine.

He focused on Valkyrie, and her screams stopped as she curled into silent agony. Anita knew that there wasn't long before she was lost, but Serpine saw the flam just in time to dodge away.

Valkyrie moaned, and Anita realized that when he had jumped away, Serpine had lost his focus—he was pointing somewhere else, now.

Anita stopped as she felt it start; a searing pain ebbed and flowed from her bones and she crashed to the ground, flame withdrawing into her flesh. When the pain hit again, she screamed, feeling her life flicker and drain.

Everything hurt so much…everything…

And then, as a gunshot penetrated past her scream and tightly-shut lids, she felt something crack, and it was over.

She lay there, shivering. Serpine lay on the ground, struggling to breathe. Lazily, her eyes opened and moved over to the wound on his leg, recognizing the handiwork of her runes causing him to die even from the mild flesh wound he had received.

Anita saw it, then—her mother's body, broken and bleeding as her blood pooled into the ice encasing her body.

As tears pooled in Anita's eyes at the memory, that last time she had seen her mother, she knew it was over. Her soulstone—it had broken.

Skulduggery was at her side, pleading.

"Anita!" he cried, "Anita, no, come on, stay with me! Don't let it be too late—oh, God, don't let it be too late! Hold on!"

She tried to lift her head, to smile, but as his hands, hard bone under leather, gripped into her hair, darkness overcame her. She heard her heartbeat, running slower, slower, slower…slower…and then, nothing.

**A/N: So, two updates in one day, it seems. Sorry about the cliffhanger. I tried to just use a line break…but those always end up as ';' anyway…and it just doesn't work. SO I'm going to just publish this and run right off to the next chapter.**

**Read and review, and thanks for your fandom, all 8 of you. **

**I love the number 8…**

**And reviewers get a big thought-hug. Or cookie, or whatever they want, really…well…almost...**

**Sorry for the super-short chapter. Think of it this way: it's like a chapter version of a miniskirt. Ugh...urm, actually I'd rather you didn't...I hate miniskirts...**


	6. The Seeds of Jealousy

**Disclaimer: I do not own Skulduggery Pleasant or Death Note. But I will start lucid dreaming with the characters. So THERE. I do own Anita.**

6-The Seeds of Jealousy

Anita fell through the void, feeling the crack deep in her chest. It felt like a chasm, and as she fell, her soul screamed its agony. Her soulstone had cracked…her soul was damaged. She wouldn't last long.

Skulduggery's voice was distant, the words nonsensical. But Anita heard enough to know he blamed himself.

As she fell down, slowly enough to be considered floating, she felt a tranquil calm settle over her. Her life mattered not, for what did the feeble worry of her life have to offer? In the end, she would have done those around her more harm than good. Skulduggery, L, Valkyrie—they would eventually become attached, and then she would die.

"_It is better this way," _a voice said. It was thin, and raspy, reminding her of a snake, or the trailing of dry leaves on the ground. The voice was…deathly.

But then Anita knew herself for what she was. She was the Imaginer, bringer of light, defeater of darkness, and protector of all life.

With this realization came her power, and she felt her spark, her own fiery soul mend the stone in which it resided. She felt the pure white of strong, pure flame cover her body, and she screamed as wings burst out of her back, bones rending flesh and growing into where the air would be, if there had been any.

Muscled formed, knotting in her back, and blood spurted as the monstrosity of flesh crawled up her bone, solidifying and forming skinless, featherless wings. Quickly, nerves and blood vessels burrowed through and let her feel, let them live, as skin flowed fluidly over the new limbs. Feathers sprouted and Anita arched her back as they flapped.

It was done. The voice hissed at her, cheated out of its prey, for it was Norich, eater of worlds, trapped for eons in the space in between.

"No. It will not end yet. I see you for what you are, blasphemer!" Anita declared, and her voice was deeper than the deepest pit, lower than the chasm between planets, and rich, full and getting fuller as she straightened, spreading her arms and preparing to strike. Flame, whiter than fresh snow and brighter than a thousand suns, formed between her outstretched palms.

"_No!"_ the voice screeched. But it was too late. A bolt of white formed, lighting the void and ridding it of the creature that had stalked there for a hundred years or more.

Anita smiled, turned, and stepped into the body that now lay beside her, the shadowy form of a skeleton kneeling over it.

Anita gasped, her heart beating furiously as if to make up for the time it had been idle, her lungs pulling air in…and out. In…out.

It was the most delicious feeling she had been able to experience in a long, long time. Her soulstone, she felt, was whole again. Serpine's body lay on the floor, still and growing cold.

Skulduggery made a sound like a sob in relief and pulled her to his chest, burying his head in her hair.

"Thank god you're alive!" he cried, his voice, smoother than the finest velvet, calming her racing heart.

Shocked, Anita pressed her hands against his shoulder blades, inhaling deeply. A grin spread across her face, and when Skulduggery pulled back to look at her, she glanced around the room.

Valkyrie was recovering from Serpine's attack, L was shocked, pale and shaking. Anita stood and pulled Skulduggery to his feet, but nearly fell again at the weight on her back. When she was living in America, she'd _thought_ of having wings—even projected them onto the fabric of her reality, though that never really achieved much—but she had never thought they would be so _heavy_.

She stumbled backwards, and in an instinctual reaction her wings fluttered open. Skulduggery gasped, and L jerked his head around to stare at her.

Anita regained her balance and walked unsteadily over to Valkyrie. Snapping, Anita conjured up a small healing fire, casting it on the girl's body.

Skulduggery yelled and tried to stop her, but when he saw that it was too late, he simply ripped at Anita's shoulder, throwing her out of the way.

Valkyrie gasped and sat up, patting at her torso as a burning sensation went through it. She looked down only to see that no damage was done, and she felt…good. Something was better than it had been. All of the pain from Serpine was gone, and she felt the skin were a scar should have been, would have been…nothing. All of her wounds had been erased.

"What…you healed me! But…how?" Valkyrie asked.

"Simple," Anita shrugged. "I needed to get rid of some of my power or it would consume me, either driving me mad or killing me. And anyway, most people assume that fire does nothing but burn and consume—it does more. It can be light, or dark, healing or wounding, hot or even cold, if the mage is skilled enough. I haven't ever managed a cold flame, but healing is easy. I just embibe it with some power, color it with a bit of my life force—oh, don't look so worried, it grows back all right, see?—and then send it to you and deflate it, leaving the power which by then has combined with the life force due to the heat, so you have more life force. Since you're not a Nafar, or of Nafaric descent, you can't use it for magic, so your body uses it for healing."

"_Simple?_" Skulduggery mused. "I don't think that sounds _simple_. But if you think it is…"

"Well, either way, I certainly don't mind," Valkyrie said.

L stepped forward. "I…remember," he breathed. His eyes widened and he collapsed on the ground, screaming, as wings burst out of his back, fully formed, rending through skin and bursting out, the feathers a pearly white obscured by blood, dripping down.

Skulduggery gasped, manipulating air to keep his carpet clean, but then the blood drew back into L's back, the skin closing around the wound without a mark, his shirt torn and tattered at the back. His breathing was ragged, his eyes wide. He was pale, shaking.

Anita ran over, barreling past Skulduggery. She lifted L's head into her lap gently, oh so gently, and smoothed back his hair.

"I…remember now. You gave me my wings and we…oh, God, Anita!" he cried.

"Shhh," Anita calmed. "Hush now. It's ok. It's alright."

He reached to her face, looking into her eyes. With the formation of her wings, they, too had changed. The pupils were slits, vertically dividing the irises, orange with streaks of blue from the center. Flame seemed to reflect from them no matter where she looked. When she blinked, the illusion was gone.

"It's ok," she said. "It's me." A tear trickled down her face—whether from relief or sadness that no longer needed to be suppressed, Skulduggery did not know.

A hand gripped her shirt, twisting, and L brought her in. Skulduggery cleared his throat, speaking before anymore could happen.

"Well!" Skulduggery and Valkyrie cried together. Valkyrie glanced over before nodding, letting Skulduggery continue, saying, "I think we ought to know how it was that Nefarian Serpine just attacked us."

Anita pulled back and L unclenched his hand. Anita smoothed her shirt back out, saying, "Well, I have the unlucky little quirk. See, I'm incredibly powerful and due to my allies, such as you and Valkyrie, most of my enemies end up dead. But since I'm the protector of all life, I'm not allowed to leave any dead bodies behind." She cleared her throat nervously. "But I've…forgotten how not to kill. My knives shear through bone easily." Skulduggery flinched but she went on, unnoticing. "My fire can burn people to nothing but floating ash if I'm in a strong moment. So I had a couple of choices.

"Either I could give up my power—leaving me defenseless and most likely meaning we all die—or I could have a form of people not _staying_ dead when I killed them. The universe doesn't like zombies—though I think it likes to laugh at Scapegrace. So they come fully back to life. Thus, Serpine was not the reanimated corpse he was when you two last met. Er…before you used the Sceptre on him, though…"

L laughed a bit, pushing himself into a sitting position next to her. "Well, then, I hope Kira won't be back anytime soon…"

"Well, I may be able to get rid of that. Though I have to warn you, my power is not as it was. I have new…limitations," Anita informed them.

"What? How?" Skulduggery asked.

"Well, before, I could use fire and ice to weave practically anything. I could turn them into food, weaving a cake out of thin air!" Anita said, holding her hand up and conjuring a flame. She sighed, turning her hand over and closing it, the smoke curling through her fingers. She continued in a calmer, sadder voice. "But…now…I can't. I don't know why, but I would have to weave fire and ice together into something else that's made of fire and ice, or combine them to put out the fire and make water…"

"You're an elemental now," Valkyrie said. "I think the only difference is that you're being put under the constraints of our world."

Anita paled. "That wouldn't be good. That wouldn't be good at all!"

"Why not?" L asked, standing as he did so.

"Because, under any constraints of a world but mine and those closest to it, I can't exist!" Anita cried.

Before Skulduggery could ask anything more, his phone rang, and he went to an adjacent room, his voice bleeding through the wall as a quiet murmur. Valkyrie wandered off to get a glass of water—according to her, since she started coming to his house as often as she did, he kept a few glasses and plastic cups in a cabinet. Anita noticed that she blushed slightly as she said this.

"So…" Anita started. "How much…I mean…um…"

"How much do I remember?" L asked softly. Anita nodded, and L sat down on the sofa she and Skulduggery had occupied before the attack. She noticed a burn along the material and grimaced. She wasn't sure she could fix it—she wasn't as powerful now.

"I don't remember everything, I'm sure. Though I can't remember what it is I'm missing, if anything. Stands to reason. But I remember enough. I remember…well, I remember now, when I died. When Kira killed me, I mean. You finished the episode—you were watching the anime at that time, yes? I thought so. Well, you finished the episode and ran into your room as soon as you could, reviving me instantly."

Anita smiled a bit. She remembered, too. If her parents hadn't been there, she would have cried openly. As it had been, though, her eyes brimmed with tears that never fell over, and she had wanted to go to her room immediately, but she was delayed by something. When she got to him, it was almost too late.

Footsteps approached, but stopped and turned, going back quietly when Valkyrie saw what was going on. _"If Anita Heathers is with this man, Ryuuzaki, she can't have Skulduggery, can she? He may say that before they did that, but Skulduggery would never actually stand for it,"_ she thought. _"And he's _mine_."_

Realizing what she thought, she stopped and listened, blanching slightly. What was happening to her? She seemed almost…territorial. _Not_ good.

Skulduggery shut the phone and turned to walk out, but Valkyrie stepped through the side door, saying, "Wait!"

Skulduggery turned. "Yes, Valkyrie? What's wrong?"

Valkyrie sighed, closing her eyes for a moment as if bracing herself. "It's just…are you sure about Anita? She could be a fraud, you know. I don't like her. Not one bit!"

Skulduggery started back as if slapped. "What?" he asked, his voice shaking. He was angry. Very angry. Valkyrie suddenly knew this had been a very, _very_ bad idea. "What did you say?" he asked again. "Because Valkyrie, you do _not_ insult my wife. You can insult my home, and me, but you _never_ insult my wife! Do you understand?"

Valkyrie sighed. "You don't get it. She and Ryuuzaki…they want to be together. He remembered everything right away. I just don't want to watch my friends get hurt. I've seen enough of that. Some of it, you'll recall, was because of me."

Skulduggery cocked his head. "But this is different, isn't it? You're not being logical, you haven't followed any steps. You have no evidence. Which means this is more than that—I know, I've been your teacher for six years, you're better at thinking than this. So what is it really, Valkyrie?" His voice was softer now, but Valkyrie was even more scared. The cat was out of the bag now. How would she get out of this one?

She stepped forward. "I'm sorry, Skulduggery. I really am. It's just…lately…oh, never mind!"

Skulduggery would have been frowning, she just knew it. And then she saw him figure it out. "Oh," he said. "Oh…no. Oh…well, then. Do you…are you…"

He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, looking sideways at her. She nodded. "If you're trying to ask what I think you're trying to ask…yes."

Skulduggery nodded. "Well…if it's any comfort…you do know that once things settle down…well, Anita _is_ rather good at sharing."

Anita blushed. "I suppose that is helpful…"

Skulduggery didn't know what else to say—how could he? He'd fancied the girl for a year now, but…well…he'd never even _considered_ the possibility that she could have fancied _him_. He was a _skeleton_, for Pete's sake!

So, awkwardly, he opened the door and stepped out of the room. Anita sat on the floor, wilted and tired-looking, and L sat on the sofa, head hanging.

"_What happened here?"_ Skulduggery mused silently. Anita looked up, brightening, when he said "Well, the Grand Mage just called."

Anita frowned. "That's Erskine, right?"

"You should call him Grand Mage, but yes," Valkyrie said. How strange, but now she felt so much better about this girl. Well, she could share, too, couldn't she?

A voice at the back of her head snarled, _"Mine!"_ but she ignored it.

"I thought he hated it?" Anita asked.

"Yes, he does. That is why, under any circumstances, you must call him Grand Mage," Skulduggery replied, "As well as Elder Bespoke. At all times, remember. No slipping up. It drives them mad."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Anita asked as she, too, stood.

"Nonsense. It's hilarious," Skulduggery chuckled.

"You sound a bit like when you told the sanctuary agent to threaten Guild with being shot. Are you sure you're not unhinged?" Anita teased him.

"He's right this time though, it is really funny. And at least the crazy mood swigs are gone. One minute he was angry, the next he was whistling happily along. I swear, he seemed bipolar!" Valkyrie exclaimed.

Anita chuckled and helped L to his feet. Skulduggery cleared his voice.

"Um," he said.

"Yes?" Anita asked sweetly.

"I'm not sure the Grand Mage or Elder Bespoke would like a stranger showing up."

"Nonsense. It's just the same as when you brought Valkyrie, right?" Anita smiled.

"When I said that Elder Bespoke wouldn't like it, I actually meant the Cleavers," Skulduggery corrected her.

Anita nodded and turned to L. "Would you be alright with staying in the car for the purpose of keeping your head attached to your neck?"

L nodded, saying, "I would, but I have to meet Watari. He'll be worried, most likely." At that, his phone rang and L picked up, wandering through the front door and down the walk. Anita watched, shaking her head.

"You're all completely crazy, you know that?" Valkyrie laughed.

As they filed into the Bentley, they missed the eyes watching them from across the road.

**A/N: Sorry this took so long to update, but I was sick and couldn't come to school or use a computer. At least this one's long.**

**And sorry, at the end the L-Anita thingy was a little off. She wouldn't actually watch him walk away like that-she'd be sure to give him a tracker so they didn't lose each other again. Anyways, let me know what you think! And thanks to my most recent reviewer that I know of: IbbleBibbleBibble**

**And thanks to all of the rest who have reviewed. And my readers.**

**And thanks for not hating this. It makes me very very happy. :D**


	7. Death

**Disclaimer: I do not own Skulduggery Pleasant (the series _or_ the character) or Death Note. Or, for that matter _a_Death Note.**

7—Death

"Oh," Anita said. "Um. Why _are_ we going to go and see the elders, Skulduggery?"

"Yes, you don't know, do you?" Skulduggery replied.

"No. Tell me," Anita demanded.

Skulduggery hummed, tapping the wheel as he pulled out and started towards the Sanctuary.

"This'll be a long drive," Valkyrie sighed.

Anita sighed and rested her head on the dashboard. Skulduggery chuckled.

"You shouldn't do that. What if we crashed?" he chided mockingly.

"You wouldn't crash," Anita mumbled.

Skulduggery tilted his head, looking over at Anita. Her shirt was bulging, struggling to hold in the extra volume of her wings at the back. Her hair fell across her face, the late afternoon light making it look like honey.

"Are you ok?" Skulduggery asked softly. Concern tinged his voice, and the voice in the back of Valkyrie's mind growled.

Anita let out a long, slow, shaky breath. "No, I'm not. I almost got killed, and I felt it, and I nearly gave in. Serpine showed up and I couldn't protect you. He pointed and I crumpled. Just…fell to the ground. I would never have done that before. I worry about you and Ryuzaki now—all the time," she explained. Her voice shook slightly, and Valkyrie saw past the flames and knives and her husbands. Anita was suddenly plunged into a world of magic.

"_Just like I was, huh?" _Valkyrie thought. Suddenly she felt the voice in the back of her head silenced, drowned by pity. She would be able to bear sharing Skulduggery with this girl.

Anita suddenly seemed more fragile than she had ever allowed before. She seemed…almost broken.

"You know," Skulduggery said after a time, "no one has ever withstood Serpine's right hand before. Even _I_ couldn't. And as for protecting me…I've been living this life for hundreds of years. Remember that."

Anita nodded. Suddenly, her head snapped up. "Where'd my parents go?" she asked quickly.

A sharp intake of breath from the front was the only response she got at first. Or, at least the replicated sound of a sharp intake of breath. Skulduggery had no lungs. No breath…

Anita paled. "What happened to my parents?" she demanded, and her voice was deep, tinged with ice. Valkyrie knew it was the tone of concern, but it put her in mind of slow, cold deaths and long nights with no comfort from the nightmares that came.

"Anita…" Valkyrie started, but she couldn't say it.

"Anita, when your power exploded, your parents…they couldn't get back. You were shot, and the water exploded up…they died. I'm sorry; there's no graceful way for me to say that," Skulduggery stated calmly.

Anita paled even further, though Valkyrie didn't think it would have been possible. As it sank in, Anita went grey. "I killed my own parents?" she breathed, not daring, not wanting to believe.

Her colour quickly went green, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Skulduggery reached for her shoulder, but she shrugged his hand of and turned to look out of the window, head bowed.

The trees raced by outside. Cars drove by, oblivious. Valkyrie wondered how it was that Anita was so composed, and then the fire started.

Smoke drifted up from in between strands of hair, dissipating quickly. Small flames started at the edges of her hair, a low note starting as a hum, and Valkyrie saw Anita's mouth open. The sound that issued from it was barely human.

Soon the flames roared, consuming her hair. No, wait—her hair _became_ fire, for nothing else was consumed. And the note rose in volume and pitch, becoming an eerie wail. Valkyrie saw men and women whipping their hands, throwing fire and ice and water at dark shapes which solidified in this picture, this grotesque video playing in her head.

Valkyrie wanted to scream, and she saw dimly through the mask of her mind's eye's vision that Skulduggery was stiff, staring straight ahead, hand paused in midair.

The battle waged on, and then she saw one woman hurrying with a child. There was a baby in her arms, crying. She shushed it, rocking the child and clasping it to her bosom. The child looked almost exactly like Allison.

And then she put the child in a stump, and a puff of blue and the child was gone, gone…

A scene changed, and she saw the people battling, battling a large beast like a slug with nine heads, the size of a blimp.

"_It must be a Gounar!"_ Valkyrie gasped internally. Still she felt the anguish of the memory, wanting to scream, to cry, to rend her skin in the agony.

And now the people were being encased in stone, grit filling their lungs until finally their stone coffin cracked in half to reveal stone bodies. The people…were all dead.

And now there was another scene…and another…and another…

They pelted Valkyrie, one by one, seeming to last for hours. People running, people fighting, people dying, all of them the same fire-race as Anita every time. They fled, in the forests, and were shot down, screaming, before coming under the influence of some other being (though neither Valkyrie nor Skulduggery knew how they knew it, both did) and getting up only to kill their friends, their family.

And the mother from earlier, bound to a wall, and her daughter, whom both recognized to be Anita, as she struggled to save her mother, and then watched as she died, and then the notice that Anita's people were all dead.

It was a single page, a single note, and Anita's head was up now, the pitch was high and shrill and loud, a scream, as Valkyrie saw the single sentence that marked the end of a race.

All but one.

Valkyrie broke out of the dream-like quality of the visions she had seen. The sun was no lower in the sky. Valkyrie saw the sign for Roarhaven, and Skulduggery exited.

Anita sobbed silently, her voice having broken off when Valkyrie and Skulduggery had come to the end of the visions. And Valkyrie felt she understood Anita now. This girl, who had lost everything but gained everything, too.

"That was…oddly similar to my own past," Skulduggery commented dryly. "But by the end, we won…by Scott, and I wondered why you worried about me so. Anita, god, it's alright to cry. I can tell you hate it. You told me that plenty of times before, didn't you? But you have plenty to cry about. Let it out. Let it go."

Anita didn't move, didn't change, except for a slight relaxation in her shoulders as she gave in and the tears flooded her cheeks.

**A/N: Oh. My. God. That was sad.**

**And sorry this is so late, but I just barely wrote it all, soo...**

**And I hear I have readers in Ireland. Do you guys know that you inhabit my favorite country? Hrm? And the rest of the countries where my readers start from are all pretty awesome, 'cause you guys live there. So here's my update. Hope you like it.**

**I am now going to go and write chapter 8.**


	8. The Elders

**Disclaimer: I do not own Skulduggery. Or Anyone else from his series. Or the series of Death Note. So THERE.**

8—The Elders

They sat waiting for the Elders. Anita had wiped her face dry the

instant they got out of the car, and had managed—barely—to get water to wash

her face with from the air. Now she sat huddled in a corner, with Skulduggery

next to her. She had refused all physical contact, wanting to be alone in her

misery, but now there was only an awkward silence.

The door opened and closed again, and all three looked up to see

Ghastly. He frowned at Anita but said nothing about her puffy red eyes.

"Come on, then. I may be surprised that you shot a girl and then

took her as your companion, but then you were

acting oddly. Anyway, we need to talk," Ghastly said. His tone and manner

showed that this was time for business.

"Yes, understood, Elder Bespoke, but first, I would like to

introduce you two. Anita, this is Ghastly Bespoke," Skulduggery said as he

rose. Anita's head jerked up at her name—she had been close to tears again—and

stood when she saw Ghastly. "Elder Bespoke, this is my wife, Anita Heathers."

Ghastly's mouth opened and closed again as if he was trying to say

something. His eyes bulged and then he stopped and swallowed. His voice came

out thin as he asked, "What? Skulduggery, your wife is dead…I mean…how…?"

"Apparently I remarried. Happily, too, it would seem. And I can

see why, after all, who wouldn't love me?" Skulduggery replied happily. If he

were a teen girl, he would most likely have giggled. But he wasn't, and so he

didn't.

"'Ello," Anita greeted him faintly. "Sorry if I'm a bit…subdued.

The people at the docks were my parents, and I've just found out, so I most

likely won't talk much. Though I might as compensation. But I shouldn't, should

I? You doubtless have plenty to talk about without my blathering on. Oh, there I

go again, my apologies, I'm going to shut up now."

"Well, come on to my office, then. I'm still a bit shocked, but we

do have things we need to discuss,"

Ghastly said slowly. Anita could tell that it was an effort for him to keep his

voice even.

Within minutes, they were seated in his office.

"The sensitives have been having visions. A girl lying on the

ground, and a man with a glowing stone, and then the stone cracks and falls,

and the girl screams. Another man falls over, apparently dead, and then the

world ends," Ghastly explained.

"Il'Guin!" Anita gasped.

"What?" the other three all exclaimed.

"No need to yell in unison like that," Anita said. The phrase

seemed to be a quote, and it brought a smile to Anita as she said it. "Il'Guin

is the leader of the Hunters—the people that killed off my race," she explained

quickly at their looks of confusion. "Anyway, he killed my mother and has tried to kill me, many times. It never

works. Usually someone shoots him before he can finish. He's got a bit of a

death wish for me—he's hunted me down my entire life."

"So, how do you know it's him?" Skulduggery asked.

"The glowing stone? It's a Nafar's soulstone. He's the only hunter

that uses that technique—for all I know, the only one who knows about it,"

Anita told them quickly. She seemed to like having something to tell them.

She put her hand out, palm up, and conjured a flame—this time

without snapping. Valkyrie gasped, Ghastly started back, and Skulduggery just

stared. The flame coalesced into an oblong solid, looking very much like a

stone made from fire.

"That's what a soulstone looks like. Anyway, Il'Guin pulls it out

and cracks it, destroying the Nafar's soul. The Nafar is left alive long enough

that Il'Guin can kill them with their former life force—fire for a

fire-specified Nafar, ice for an ice-specified Nafar, and water for such a

specified Nafar," Anita concluded.

"So, who's the man that dies? And why does the world end?" Ghastly

asked quickly.

"Romanius. He's the reason I'm still alive. I'm charged with

protecting him, so luck favors me more than most. He did something in the past

so great, so noble, that he got a lot of enemies trying to kill him. A side

effect of it, though, is that the universe decided that when he died, all other

life—on Earth or otherwise—would die. Sentience wouldn't change a thing,

either. So I keep him alive. Protect him. It's my job," Anita declared.

"So we need to stop

this…Eel Green or whatever?" Valkyrie replied.

"Il'Guin. And yes, that might be good. Plus, he really likes to

torture people…he's a bit like a mix between Hitler and Serpine!" Anita chirped

brightly.

"Oh, joy, just what we needed," Skulduggery commented dryly.

"How are you so cheerful?" Valkyrie asked.

"Oh, it's a defense mechanism. When I was in a racist community

where they hated white people…well, I got tougher, but went mad," Anita

replied. Her knees bounced and her hands tapped a lively, repetitive rhythm on

the tabletop.

"And how long will it last?" Skulduggery asked.

"Until it doesn't. I don't know, maybe half an hour? Basically

until I stop to think. Then I'll crash," Anita said.

"Well then we'd better hurry," Ghastly said.

"Not really. Il'Guin won't go after Romanius. And anyway, I can

get rid of the link between us, but make it one way, so that if he gets hurt

I'll know but if I die he'll be fine," Anita told them. Her legs were still

bouncing, but she'd stopped the tapping to scratch at her head erratically. It

looked a bit like a dog.

"Are you ok?" Skulduggery asked.

"Not in the slightest. I've gone mad. But I'll survive," Anita

said. Her leg slowed to a stop and her hands folded quietly. She was shaking

slightly. Skulduggery stood and put a hand on her shoulder. Anita wilted at the

touch, her gaze turning inwards. Skulduggery could almost see a woman with ice

on her face, lying in a pool of blood…

"Can you fight?" Valkyrie asked.

Anita's head snapped up. "Of course I can fight. I don't keep

eight daggers on me in my microcosm for nothing. Granted, I can't take a hit,

because this is the first time I can even feel them, and if I can't breathe

I'll freak, but yes, I think I can fight. I'm good with fire," she informed

them. Her voice was now soft and gentle.

Her mood swings could be as sudden and scary as Skulduggery's, Valkyrie decided.

_"Well, maybe not as scary..." _Valkyrie corrected herself. _"But definitely as sudden."_

"You're an elemental. We knew that," Skulduggery murmured. Without seeming to realize what he was doing, he stood, draping his jacket over her still-shaking form. Valkyrie, despite the newfound pity for Anita, felt a twinge of envy when she saw the tenderness, though slight and unsure, that was present.

"Well, I am an elemental now in more than one sense. I am both an elemental mage and an elemental being...how interesting," Anita replied. A smile curved her lips. Light danced behind her eyes, if only for a moment.

"Well," Ghastly broke into the silence that had formed like a slight film over water, "We should probably go see one of the sensitives. To see what we're up against."

"Cassandra," Valkyrie piped up immediately. "We should go and see Cassandra again." At the looks she was getting, Valkyrie cried, "Oh, come on! It's what we did for Darquesse! And her dream whisperers do work..."

"I'm not sure-" Ghastly started.

"All due respect, Elder Bespoke," Anita cut him off. "I think I'm quite prepared. So long as Skulduggery, Anita, and I are the only ones in the steam room with Cassandra, I think it'll be quite alright-I apologize for not letting anyone else in, but I don't know what will be shown, so..."

"Completely understood," Ghastly responded. "And I'll accept. But, please, call me Ghastly!"

"We wouldn't want to break protocol, though, would we?" Skulduggery responded.

"Yes, that would be terrible," Valkyrie agreed.

"Out. Now. And Skulduggery, Anita...congratulations to the both of you," Ghastly growled, his voice lightening considerably on the last sentence.

"Thank you, Elder Bespoke," Skulduggery replied warmly.

"Out."

**A/N: So, you guys are awesome, but I'm going to be bad and go write the prequel now so I won't be updating _this_ for a while. I'm so sorry. Look for 'Images'-It'll be a while, though, before the first chapter up. (Oh, and it starts out as a Dungeons and Dragons fanfic.)**

**So. See this fanfic in a while. Everyone wave goobye. And then review or something crazy like that.**


	9. Conversations

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or Skulduggery Pleasant.**

9—Conversation

Anita walked out slowly, handing Skulduggery his jacket again before they went outside despite his protests, saying that he needed his disguise back, at the very least.

The sky was covered in clouds when they emerged, and Anita smiled at the fine mist that fell across her face.

"It never rains in Ireland but it mists," she said, smiling. "God, I'm home in a country I've never been."

"I expect you'll take some time to adjust," Skulduggery replied.

"Nonsense. I lived in northern New York State, and gorged myself by reading Skulduggery Pleasant books," Anita replied.

"There are…books of us?" Valkyrie asked.

"Why yes, of course. How else would I have known of you?" Anita asked. Valkyrie shivered, the cold suddenly shooting down her back.

"But we're real!" Valkyrie exclaimed.

"There are books of people who exist, aren't there? Lincoln, for example," Anita responded.

"Right…I think we should get into the car before a helpless passer-by hears us. They might be frightened," Skulduggery urged them.

"Yes, I think you're right. Are we going to Cassandra now?" Anita asked.

"I think first we should go to Finbar," Valkyrie responded quickly.

Anita nodded and got into the backseat, Valkyrie taking the front. Skulduggery shook his head and stepped in as well, clicking on his seat belt before checking theirs and pulling out.

Since the Sanctuary was in Roarhaven, and Finbar Wrong was in Dublin, they had a nice long drive before they got there.

"We need something to do. I can't sit still or I'll stop and think, and in my present state that would be dangerous," Anita told them.

"Well, what would you suggest?" Skulduggery asked. Valkyrie was still surprised—he had a different tone when he talked to Anita. Not love, but surprisingly gentle. As if he was telling someone with mortal wounds they would be just fine.

"I need to talk. But about what, I have no clue," Anita told them.

"Tell us about your race. What…happened to them?" Valkyrie asked.

Anita sighed. "Mass extermination. When Il'Guin first came to our world, he used a poison that was outlawed. It made someone completely dependent on magic for survival, while making them slowly run out as they used it. It was torturous, resulting in death, so the Nafar didn't allow it or its makers in their society." Anita shook her head, kicking off her shoes and pulling her feet up to sit cross-legged.

"Il'Guin met the Hunters then. They were much more primitive, then. They were excellent trackers, yes, with neuro-toxins that they used for their blow darts, but other than that, they knew relatively little. They hunted, and ate, and that was their purpose. But they and the Nafar were enemies. The Nafar had magic, the Hunters weapons, and they waged battle if they came into contact. That was all there was to it.

"So Il'Guin forged them. He gave them his poison—a potion, really—and developed a new toxin, one that could capture a Hunter's soul and deliver it to another body, allowing for the Hunter contained in the potion to take over the vessel. A bit like Remnants, you could say.

"In return, they made him their master, and he waged war on the Nafar. My race did well, but we were slowly losing ground. So we turned to the Gounar. It was purely by luck that Ether race ships had crashed nearby; we got them working again and flew off to where we knew the Gounar lived.

"The Gounar were a war-species, loyal through the core. They died honourable deaths, didn't allow for themselves to be taken captives, and friendship lasted for a lifetime. They also lived until a disease or weapons—including magic—killed them.

Anita paused for breath, and Skulduggery cocked his head slightly in a way that Valkyrie recognized as a frown.

"I think you told me before. Something went wrong, didn't it?" Skulduggery asked.

"Of course something went wrong. The ambassadors—all four of them were fire-specified, I believe—were sent back up with their soul-stones destroyed. Their bodies were mangled by fire. This was an act of war, the worst hostility against our race. Torture like that was an outrage," Anita explained. "So we opened fire. The war lasted years, but we won. Even against mages like the Gounar—who are more powerful than I was even at the height of my power—we won.

"But our forces were decimated. The Hunters had been picking us off at home, and when the Nafar that survived the war with the Gounar returned, the war with the Hunters rose to a peak. Soon the Nafar were nearly eliminated, and they fled into the forest."

Skulduggery grunted before saying, "And that's how the Hunters proved their name, am I right?"

"Yes. By the time I was thirteen hundred, or aged thirteen by mortal human standards, I got the notice that my people were eradicated. My mother had been tortured to death before my eyes, Valkyrie, by Il'Guin, and he knew I was there. Skulduggery held me back, kept me from meeting the same fate, but Il'Guin knew I was there, thought I wasn't a threat, and let me go. He's sadistic enough that leaving me alive to watch my mother's final moments seemed better to him than to kill me as well."

"You can't be sure of that!" Valkyrie exclaimed.

"No, she's right. I remember that time. He knew. He _is_ quite a bit like Serpine," Skulduggery noted.

"Anyway, my mother gave me her memories. They're locked away, but sometimes something will float out. It's extremely confusing, but it can be helpful at times," Anita told them.

"And what she's leaving out," Skulduggery said, "is that she heard of a Nafar camp. She freed them."

Valkyrie turned around to crane her neck at Anita, who sat there, blushing.

"I did what I had to…I'm their queen, I have to help them!" Anita shouted.

"What?" Valkyrie nearly shouted. Skulduggery had to resist the urge to look around, instead keeping his gaze on the road.

"My mother was the queen of the Nafar, which is why it was so important to Il'Guin that she died. The Nafaric resistance crumbled much more quickly than before once she was dead," Anita said calmly.

It struck Valkyrie as surprising that Anita said everything with almost no emotion, apathy predominant.

"How can you say this all so…so…" she started, but she had no idea how to continue, and just let the sentence trail off helplessly.

"So calmly? Valkyrie, I've been asked the story by each person that meets me. It gets longer and shorter based on the telling, but having told the story so many times…I've grown used to it," Anita said. At the look on Anita's face and the slight drooping of Skulduggery's head, she added, "No, don't pity me. I don't want pity. You asked, and I told, and it's fine."

"No, it's not!" Skulduggery rebuked her. "Anita Heathers, stop thinking that your suffering doesn't affect other people. Stop it _now_¸ because I swear, I'm not losing you again because you think you don't matter."

Anita started back as if slapped, but nodded, too. Skulduggery looked at her in the mirror, and then back at the road.

"The truth is," he continued more softly, "you _do_ matter. Anita, you are wonderful. Splendid, I assure you. Why do you think that you are so insignificant? So unimportant that your suffering just melts away to everyone else?" he asked gently.

Valkyrie knew what he was going to say next, she just knew it, and as he did a stab of jealousy went through it.

"Anita, I love you," he told her.

Valkyrie was ready for some bit of reunion, husband and wife separated by unfortunate events, so the words that came next surprised her.

"Don't," Anita replied. Her voice was tinged with sadness, and as she spoke, her throat started to close. "Don't say something you can't mean, Skulduggery. You don't know me. You don't remember me. Therefore, you _can't_ love me. Don't lie to me just to make things better."

Skulduggery stiffened, and Anita looked out of the car window, reflection pale against the foliage outside. She refused to let them see her tears, show them how weak she was. Skulduggery was right, she did think of herself as insignificant. But he was wrong to think she was any more than that.

After all, she was only alive so she could protect someone else, and that only because no one else would accept the reality of the job. And even at that, she failed, for where was Romanius? No one knew where he was, or who he was, not in this world.

"_Useless,"_ Anita yelled inwardly. _"Baka! You've gone and ruined everything, and for what? You've rejected Skulduggery, L's run off—oh, yes, and you let him do that too, who's to say he's coming back?—and you can't even keep them alive. Now it's too late for them, and Romanius may not live long. He never could understand magic. You should have taught him. Idiot…"_

The abuse continued in Anita's mind, the part of her that she called the Vulture continuing on its tirade, berating her and abusing her. Tears started to fall onto her arm, where fingernails dug into the crook of her elbow, leaving indented marks in the skin when she let go for another tighter, more painful grip.

Valkyrie stared straight ahead, disgusted with herself. Anita had rejected Skulduggery, in a way, and hurt him, and some part of Valkyrie had rejoiced because he was hers.

Skulduggery gripped the steering wheel tightly, concentrating on the road. Anything but think about what she had said—though his thoughts invariably returned to her despite his best efforts. She had rejected him. She had refused to accept that he cared.

_Why_ did she hate herself so?

* * *

><p>It was a down spirited threesome that arrived at Temple Bar. The rest of the ride had passed without a single word, Anita's tears slowly coming to a stop as the Vulture stopped its rage against her.<p>

Skulduggery knocked on the door, and even the hollow thunk seemed a bit wilted.

Finbar opened the door, and his face split into a wide grin. "Skul-man!" he cried, "Great to see you! Wow, it's been ages…hey, you wanna come see Sharon and the kid?"

"Not today, Finbar. We're here strictly on business," Skulduggery responded in a flat, dull voice.

"Yeah, ok man…but the kid really misses you, you know," Finbar frowned.

"I don't know Sharon or your child, Finbar. We've never met," Skulduggery stated. "But that's beside the point, which I would really like to get down to and then leave. Today is not a good day for me." Anita winced at the last addition, and compulsively started twisting the skin on the inside of her elbow.

"We're here about the sensitive visions," Valkyrie explained. "The ones of the girl."

"Yeah, man…hey, the girl you got with you, that's the one I keep seeing. She's going to die, Skul-man," Finbar told them.

"I know that," Anita spoke up. Her voice sounded harried. Abused. Skulduggery couldn't make himself care. "I'm…"

Again with the hesitation. "I'm Anita," she finished. Skulduggery started back. She'd told _Finbar Wrong_ her given name? Was she stupid?

"Finbar. Good to meet you. Hey, want a tattoo?" he asked.

"No, thanks. I'd really just like to know about what you see," Anita answered.

"Ok. Well, there's you, and a man takes a glowing stone, and…you know what, Cassandra—another sensitive—she'd be better to talk about this with," Finbar explained.

"I know who she is, thanks," Antia snapped back. She paled, then tore a bit of skin off of her lips with her teeth, fingers swirling the flesh on her arm around themselves even tighter. The spot was starting to get red.

"Then we should go. Goodbye, Finbar," Skulduggery said. He turned on his heel and walked away, not even glancing back as he climbed into the Bentley.

Valkyrie pushed her feelings aside, taking Anita aside, saying, "You know, you really hurt him. He loves you, you should see that. Don't push him away. He lost you once, and he's lost another wife, too. Don't put him through it again."

"Look, Valkyrie, I'm just trying to help him. He thinks he loves me. That's impossible. If he doesn't hate me, he doesn't know me, and if he doesn't know me, he can't hate me," Anita replied, turning her face away to look at a tree down the road. "And even if he did, it would result in his death. He wouldn't be coming back, and I can't save him," she explained.

"He doesn't want to be protected. He wants to be able to love you. Let him. It's better than one or both of you dying without being able to be with the other," Valkyrie finished. Before Anita could reply, she strode over to the car and jumped in the backseat.

Anita hestitated, looking at the tree, wanting to just curl up in a ball and cry, before she, too, turned and walked to the car. She thought it would be odd if there were two people in the back but no one in the front, and so her compulsive mind forced her to the front.

The moment she got in, Skulduggery started the car and drove, not saying a word. Anita cleared her throat, hands in her lap and posture cowering, ducking her head in protection from the rebuttal she was sure would spring up.

She started talking, her voice an almost inaudible croak. "Skulduggery, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you. You weren't doing a thing wrong. I just…in my head, if someone doesn't hate me, the automatic conclusion for me, at times, is that they don't know me. So it's hard for me to accept that you love me…but if it's true, it's true, and I'm more than happy to accept that. I'm so, so sorry. Please forgive me?"

Skulduggery shook his head, pulled over to the side of the road, and turned to Anita. "I will forgive you," he told her, "on one condition. Don't hate me for what I'm about to do."

Anita started to respond, but Skulduggery leaned forward (heedless, it seemed, of the seat belt) and pressed his teeth to her lips. Even as a skeleton, he could present himself with the _illusion_ of closing his eyes, where everything faded out, and he did, focusing only on _her_, Anita.

Anita felt him press his teeth against her lips, ever so gently and yet with an undercurrent of passion that was unmistakable. Her eyes slid gently closed ad she moaned as long, thin fingers went through her hair, another hand supporting the small of her back. She pressed her palms against his shoulder blades, stunned by the reality of the sensation. They had been married, for two years, and there had been many kisses, but she hadn't felt a single one. And now she could.

It broke off gently, that kiss, only for their foreheads to lean together. Anita couldn't bring herself to open her eyes—training from the hundreds of times she did, only to see an empty bed beside her, a pillow at her side in a lame replacement for a human body.

"I love you," he told her, a steady and purposeful emphasis on every word.

"I love you, too," she responded, and the joy sent her stomach on flips. She felt as if everything was tilted and any moment she would slip off of her seat, but the moment passed. Her stomach continued to do happy flips, but the world righted itself, and Anita opened her wings slightly, still unused to the sensation of their existence.

Skulduggery leaned back, hand leaving her back to trace her jaw gently with a thumb, and then teeth pressed against her forehead and he was gone. Anita was afraid to open her eyes, afraid she would only see the empty bed, the sad pillow.

But when she did, Skulduggery still sat there, Valkyrie, in the back (once Anita remembered to check), was staring wide-eyed.

"_And I thought I might have had a chance to have him to myself…"_ Valkyrie thought to herself. _"But then, if he shares her, she can surely share him…oh, stop thinking of Skulduggery as if he were some precious commodity, you nitwit!"_

Anita felt the blush start as Skulduggery pulled back out into traffic and they left along the highway. The drive was, yet again, silent—but this time it was a much more comfortable silence.

**A/N: So I think Skulduggery was a little OOC. I don't know, though, as none of the Skulduggery Pleasant books (that I know of) have any romance in them which involve him. **

**But anyway, this was probably the longest chapter I've written in a long time. And it's good to get back to this one, I didn't like Images very much. It was too rushed, I think. Especially the penultimate chapter. **

**But I think it's about time that Skulduggery and Anita got something done. After all, something **_**needed**_** to happen. Even if Skulduggery only remembers bits and pieces of what they had before.**

**So, did that all surprise anyone? I think we're now starting to see a relapse. Whaddya think—should Anita be saved or go off her rocker like she did in Images?**

**Does anyone know why Images has that title?**

**If you answer my questions, you can ask me questions and I will answer them. Heeheehee.**

**Tchus!**


	10. Nu'Undech

**Disclaimer: I do not own Skulduggery Pleasant or Death Note.**

10—Nu'Undech

Skulduggery watched Anita closely as they got out of the car. Her lips formed a slight smile, and her fingers trailed along everything she touched gently. She glanced at him and her smile deepened.

It was with a soaring heart (metaphorically, of course) that Skulduggery rapped on the door. A pleasant, hollow thunk resounded from the cabin, and footsteps sounded from inside.

A grey-haired woman stepped out, her blouse faded and her jeans casual, wrapped in a light pink cardigan. "Skulduggery," she said, "and Valkyrie. Come in."

They stepped inside, and Anita quickly spoke up, "I'm Anita. Don't worry about introductions—I got to know you by reading books, in which you were a character. I aready know you, to an extent, Cassandra."

Cassandra looked a bit taken aback, but she quickly recovered. "Well, then," she replied, "I assume you were here, again, about the sensitive visions."

Valkyrie nodded. Skulduggery told her, "They seem to be about Anita. We need to know what's going on—I need, no, _we_ need to keep her safe from the man in the visions."

"I've seen something else, too, though. Similar to Darquesse," Cassandra informed them. At Valkyrie's uncomfortable fidgeting, she added, "I am assuming that the dream whisperers worked?"

Valkyrie just nodded. Cassandra led them wordlessly into the steam room, and soon a thick cloud was over them.

"Now, I would prefer if nothing that was not necessary to be revealed that is revealed in this room was only discussed by the four of us," Anita requested.

"Of course. Having already seen what I'm about to show you, I understand your discomfort," Cassandra accepted.

The steam formed to show a girl, her hair flame and her wings glowing with a slight light, everything in grey-scale. Still, they could all tell who it was: Anita. She turned, and a tall, thin man with dark-seeming hair stepped from behind a billow. He had a knife in one hand; the other had formed claws somehow.

He lunged forward, ripping at the steam-Anita's chest, pulling out what looked to be a soulstone. It was the only steam image with color, and it looked almost exactly like what Anita had shown them in Ghastly's office. Anita fell to the ground, screaming, and the sound pierced Valkyrie's eardrums. Skulduggery instinctively reached out for Anita, to be sure she was still there. He knew it was steam, but…still, if he'd had blood, it would have been curdling.

Slowly, the scream stopped, and Anita uncurled slightly. Her eyes were glazed, her gaze vacant, but when Il'Guin snapped, conjuring flame, fear crept into them despite a complete lack of expression otherwise.

As he threw it, Anita screamed again, the scream turning into a mangled yell as her flesh turned to ash in instants.

_Flicker._

A man, of average height and build, hair graying and unkempt, fell over, dropping his coffee mug as he did, letting out a strangled yell as he collapsed.

_Flicker_.

The world around Anita withered and died, leaves dropping from trees, speeding suddenly as she stood, eyes angry, chin uplifted, wings spread. She held a knife in one hand, but screamed as blackness poured out of her mouth, out from around her soulstone. It gripped her, settling onto her skin before going through, leaving a pale, ghostly white tone, and black hair and eyes.

Anita, the real Anita, stepped to Skulduggery, grasping his hand tightly. Her heart was racing. He and Valkyrie…they would understand, she knew they would. But she knew, from years of seeing, what came next. And Skulduggery could not remember the few times she had succumbed, had nearly killed him.

Steam-Anita grinned wickedly, her blade bending and twisting to form an even crueler method of punishment. She threw it, and dark fire surrounded the blade as it embedded itself in the man's chest.

"Goodbye, Il'Guin," Anita watched herself say. The steam form of her looked at her eyes, smiling, and turned. Skulduggery approached quickly.

"Are you ok?" steam-Skulduggery asked.

"I am Nu'Undech. I am perfectly fine," the woman said, her hair burning with dark fire at the tips. Skulduggery could only see it as she turned and the fire left streamers in the air, but he watched as she whipped out a hand. Darkness gripped around his ribcage, splitting open his shirt, and he clutched Anita's hand as she squeezed it.

And Nu'Undech used the shadows to shatter his bones, looking straight into Anita's eyes. A chill went down her back despite the warmth of the room.

And the images faded, dissipating as the steam did the same, condensing on the walls. Anita had stood in the spray, Skulduggery too stunned to move her, and she was drenched. With a wave of her hand, she moved it off of her, a puff of cloud rising from the coals where she dropped it. Still, Anita stared at the spot where Nu'Undech had stood. Her eyes were wide.

She had succumbed to Nu'Undech, after all. She had let the world die. And she had killed Skulduggery. With a "No!" she barely managed to get out, she collapsed to her knees, heedless of the heat from the fire down below the metal grate. Cassandra closed her umbrella slowly.

Skulduggery realized he was staring where _he_ had lain, bones shattered, and had let go of Anita's hand. Slowly, he brought his gaze to her. She sat on the ground in a heap, tears flowing silently down her face.

He walked forward, crouching next to her. Tentatively, as if she would turn into Nu'Undech without a moment's notice—a ridiculous notion, he knew—he put his hand on her shoulder. She didn't respond except for a dipping of her head, and a strangled sob.

Feeling alien to his own body, completely numb, Skulduggery spoke. "It's ok. We'll stop her. She's not you, not a part of you. She's a parasite, isn't she?" he asked. More than his curiosity (though that was substantial), he wanted to quell both Anita's and his own concerns.

Anita remained wordless, but nodded slowly.

"Like a remnant, yes?" Valkyrie asked. Again, Anita nodded. "Then I'm sure we can find a way to get rid of her," Valkyrie concluded.

Anita's head straightened up, and she scrubbed furiously at her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket.

A phone rang, and Anita frowned before dipping her hand into her pocket, pulling it out, and answering. Her voice was choked with tears yet again as she said, "Anita Heathers. Hallo?"

"Anita, it's Ryuzaki. I was just calling to let you know I have finished my case, I'll be taking a break now, so I was wondering if you could pick me up somewhere, or if Watari could drop me off somewhere?" Ryuzaki formed the sentence into a question easily. His voice, similar to Skulduggery's, gave Anita a chill.

"Hold on a sec, Ryuzaki. Let me ask Skulduggery," Anita replied. She turned, then, and repeated what he had said to Skulduggery, one hand covering the mouthpiece on the phone.

"Have this Watari drop him off at my place, I think we'll be going back now. We need to fill him in and devise a plan of action," Skulduggery acquiesced.

"Ryuzaki? Have Watari drop you off at Skulduggery's place. You remember where it is. We should be heading back not too long from now," Anita repeated.

"Alright. Are you ok?" Concern tinged his voice.

"I'll be alright, I think," Anita responded.

L hung up without another word, and Anita stood. "So, now that you know, if you choose to leave or shoot me down, just give me a moment to make the tie between me and Romanius one-sided," she declared. Her head bowed and her eyes closed, and she paused that way for a second before looking up again. Her gaze was defiant, cold and hard as marble, and yet accepting. She would be felled, she felt, without a cry.

"I'm not going to kill you," Valkyrie told her—her voice came out harsher than she meant for it to—and continued, "because if I did, not only would Skulduggery have to kill me, but because then both me and him would have to die. I'm Darquesse. That won't go away."

"And neither will Vile. But you control her a good part of the time, don't you?" Skulduggery reassured her. "It'll be fine. No one is going to kill you. I am going to be _sure_ of that."

Anita nodded, bowed to Cassandra, who was leaving the room, and followed after her. "Do you have any advice?" Anita asked.

"No, but I think Valkyrie has an idea," Cassandra told her.

"I do. Anita, you said that Nafar keep their souls in a stone. Could you put Nu'Undech in one, break it so she's destroyed?" Valkyrie asked.

"I might have been able to, when I had all of my power, but now that I'm limited as I am, it won't work," Anita shook her head. "But even if I could, I'm not sure I would. Nu'Undech may be a sadistic psychopath, but she's still a living being. To destroy her soul…well, just remember that it's how the Second Great War—the war with the Gounar—started."

"Maybe we should focus on Il'Guin first," Skulduggery mused. "After all, it does seem that his attack brought on Nu'Undech."

"True. Often, I can't even feel her presence. She was drawn to the image of herself, so I can feel her now, but she's not making a bid for escape, so I'm fine. It's usually from a soulstone crack that she escapes," Anita confessed. "And even then, she doesn't always come. Thank God for small mercies, I suppose…"

"Well, I think we should get going. Thank you, Cassandra, for your help," Skulduggery broke the silence.

Valkyrie and Anita followed, both thanking Cassandra yet again for her help.

"Are you alright, Valkyrie?" Anita asked. "You've been rather quiet."

"I'm…it's just…oh, there's no way I can tell you!" Valkyrie stammered.

"You're jealous. Of me. You like Skulduggery, am I right?" Anita inquired.

"How do _you_ know anything about that? Did he tell you?" Valkyrie hissed.

Anita shook her head. "No, he didn't, but I could tell. And anyway, I always knew you would end up wanting him. It was only a matter of time before you realized your feelings for the man."

"What?" Valkyrie asked awkwardly. "Was it really that…obvious?"

"Not to him, if that's what you wanted to know. But the people who still think you and Skulduggery are works of fiction…let's say this: they write stories about you. Other than Derek Landy—that's your author—I mean. And some of them are enough to make Skulduggery blush."

"I heard that!" the skeleton called back. "Anyway, are you coming or not?"

"Coming!" Anita replied, before lowering her voice and saying to Valkyrie, "You know, I'm fine with you making a move on him. So long as you don't keep us from each other for too long. And he _does_ have feelings for you…even if he would never admit to it."

With that, she bounced down the walk and got into the car. Valkyrie noticed that she was employing the same tactics Valkyrie had used herself, earlier on. Let Valkyrie sit in the front so she had to confront Skulduggery.

He stood, watching her. She could feel his gaze on him. She walked up, hands in her pockets, and went to take the backseat. At the last minute, though, she turned to Skulduggery, taking her hands out of her pockets and planting a light kiss on his jawbone.

She didn't stay long enough to see his reaction, darting into the car instead, so she missed it when he lifted a hand to his jaw, seemingly in shock. Anita, however, saw it, grinning as she watched.

He stepped into the car, and pulled out silently. Suddenly, though, as they were getting off of the side roads and onto the highway, he noted, "That was sudden."

"Yeah…sorry," Valkyrie responded, but she nearly giggled, ruining the effect.

"I suppose I'm just far more popular than even I expected," he continued happily.

"Well, look, your ego is back. It's been gone for a record amount of time!" Anita laughed. Valkyrie, giggling, agreed—though upon later question she would deny that she ever did such a thing as giggle.

Meanwhile, a pair of eyes watched from the side of the road as they passed. The watcher, a tall, thin man with black, well smoothed hair, grinned evilly. He had found the girl.

**A/N: So here we get a bit of climax. Whaddya think? Good? Bad? Do you love it, or do you hate it? Hm?**

**Tell me, and I give you some virtual lollipops.**

**Oh, and a quick but important note. Nu'Undech is pronounced with a 'ch' as in the Hebrew words 'chai' and 'challah' (if you need to look them up, please do, because I don't know how to explain the sound).**


	11. Playing CatchUp

**Disclaimer: I do not own Skulduggery Pleasant or Death Note. Or Animorphs. No, that doesn't mean there will be Animorphs in this chapter. But that does not mean that I own it.**

11—Playing Catch-Up

They drove there quickly. Skulduggery, despite the gentleness with which he treated Anita, was _not_ ok with this. His wife, the woman he had once grown to love…she was supposed to kill him.

And he was supposed to share her anyway…though if it meant he got both Anita _and_ Valkyrie, he supposed he didn't mind.

"_And,"_ he thought, _"I suppose I should have expected something like this. Someone as charming as I am would be bound to have multiple people after him. And as for Anita being Nu'Undech…well, we all have evil parts of us, and things rarely _do_ go my way…"_

He looked back at Valkyrie. She had kissed him. He was, overall, quite flustered. He had said to wait until things settled down…but then, he had never completely understood women. He'd have to talk to Ghastly about it all.

When they pulled up to the house, Skulduggery looked around for the man Ryuzaki, but he was nowhere to be seen. He got out slowly, feeling as if something were off.

Bang! Skulduggery jumped as Valkyrie closed the car door. She blushed, mumbling, "Sorry. Closed it harder than I meant to…"

He shrugged and started to walk inside before realizing that Anita was still in the car. He went around to her side, approaching the window, only to see that she was sleeping. He knocked on the window and she started awake, eyes wild.

(Line break.)

Anita started out of her nightmare when someone knocked on her window. The memories were vivid, but as she glanced out, she saw Skulduggery and the evening sky. It would be twilight soon.

Clicking off her seatbelt, Anita rose from her seat. She hit her head getting out, and stumbled on a rock, but chalked it down to her still drowsy brain.

They proceeded to the house, Anita's feet still dragging slightly. It wasn't late, but car rides tended to make her _very_ drowsy indeed.

They stepped inside and a noise from behind the couch rang out as if it were an explosion is the still night. Skulduggery turned the light on with one hand, as he and Valkyrie clicked their fingers, flame lighting in their palms. Anita frowned, holding her hand out in front of her, a fist curled around empty air. She focused harder, and a dagger made of ice melted from her palm, the blade facing towards her elbow. Her arm bent until her fist was level with her chin.

Ryuzaki stood up slowly from behind the furniture, a fork in one hand, a plate with a small cake in the other.

"Please don't attack me," he stated.

The flame went out, but Anita stepped forward lightly, turning her side to the man in front of her, the tip of the dagger facing L.

"How do I know you're L?" Anita demanded.

"On a forum once someone thought they could kill me by saying the cake is a lie!" L responded in a rush.

"I told everyone that. A shapeshifter would know that if they did any amount of research," Anita hissed.

"Ok…I lay down the white lily," L retorted.

Anita wondered that he could be so calm, his voice never wavering or losing its monotone. "I see. Very well."

She lowered the dagger, bowing her head and closing her eyes, and it re-absorbed into her palm. A red, sore spot was left in its place. Anita frowned.

"_So I still need to work on even _ice_?"_ she wondered.

"I hope you don't mind," L was saying, "but I broke into your house. It was getting late, and the cake was getting cold…"

Valkyrie snorted. Skulduggery just took off his coat, folding it neatly and placing it on the table, saying, "I hope you realize that there's no kitchen where you can clean that off. No bathroom, either."

L nodded slightly, taking another bite of his cake. Anita looked at the three by turns, and then stepped over to L and poked him on the shoulder—hard.

"_That_," she told him, "was for scaring me."

L looked at his shoulder and Anita stole a bit of frosting off of his cake, sucking on her finger as she stepped out of reach.

Skulduggery cleared his throat as L started to protest. "I think we had better get on to the more serious matters," he declared.

"Yeah, we should," Valkyrie agreed.

Anita walked to the same spot as before and collapsed into a cross-legged sitting pose, falling to the ground. "Let me start!" she cried as soon as she landed. Valkyrie nodded and Anita went on, "Ok, so there are psychics, pretty much, or seers, but they're called Sensitives, and anyway, the Sensitives were seeing this vision. And it was about me. And I die. Then I become the evil alternate version of me who's supposed to kill all of the Nafar and everyone I love, so I kill Skulduggery—in the vision, that is—but we're going to try and stop that."

Anita took a deep breath and went on, "And that's why we went to see the Elders. Oh, and on the way Skulduggery told me—apparently…apparently my parents are dead," Anita finished quietly. Her talking had slowed down bit by bit, and was robbed of all of its energy by the time she finished.

"Oh, God, that's…that's terrible!" L said, but he didn't move. His gaze remained fixed calmly on her face, and a the frown that flitted across his face was momentary. Anita couldn't help but wonder, despite her distress, if his calm was a façade or truly what he felt. He continued, "I'm sorry. But you're going to have to tell me more about this vision. Could you explain in greater detail, and perhaps more slowly?"

Anita nodded, scrubbing furiously at her eyes. She understood his need to continue on, but his lack of outward caring still stung. "So, I can show you the vision," she told him, "and after that, I will tell you more about Nu'Undech—the other me I told you about."

He simply nodded, and she held out her hand. A fire melted up, and a miniature version of what she, Valkyrie, and Skulduggery had witnessed in the steam chamber played out above her palm.

Ryuzaki didn't move or speak, simply sitting and devouring the vision with eager eyes.

"_Of course,"_ Anita reckoned, _"this is all just another case to him. He's very good, I suppose, at compartmentalizing. Or does he just care that little about me? No, I refuse to believe that…"_

But she realized that he was paler by the end, if only slightly.

"I am Nu'Undech. That was her, at the end, who killed…who killed Skulduggery. Speaking of which, where's he gone off to?" Anita queried.

"Sorry. I figured you all might need food—I've just ordered a pizza," the man in question replied, walking back from another room.

Ryuzaki made a face, replying, "You two girls can have it. I already ate. Anita, what are the stories surrounding Nu'Undech?"

Silently, Anita thanked Ryuzaki for specifying _Nu'Undech_ and not simply saying 'you.' She was thanking Valkyrie moments later for saving her from the need to answer.

"The one who's supposed to kill all of the Nafar, apparently," she answered. "Honestly, this has all been so vague…I'm not used to knowing so little, to be honest. Every new piece of information just brings up a new question. If I may be frank, I don't really like this situation at all."

"Well, that's understandable," Skulduggery commented. "I, for once, don't really know any more than you do."

"Well, Nu'Undech is, like so many people's dark, twisted, evil sides, a shadow bearer (that's what we call Necromancers in our world). Basically, thousands of years ago, there was this vision about her. She would walk our world and kill every Nafar left. In the times that she's taken me over, she's never failed to try and kill someone I love. Not once," Anita explained. Anger bubbled through her voice.

L cockd his head. "What are the Nafar?" he asked innocently.

Anita sucked in a breath. She stood, turning to Skulduggery and asking, "Is there anywhere I won't burn your house down and no mortals will see me if I catch on fire?"

"Out back—this way," he replied, leading the way. Anita beckoned for L to follow, too (Valkyrie had gone ahead of her) and they proceeded outside.

"The Nafar," Anita said as she stepped onto a concrete porch out of the view of mortal pedestrians, "are my race. They look a bit like…this."

And she caught fire.

**A/N: So I found some errors and such in 'Conversations.' At one point, Anita states that "Anyone who doesn't hate me doesn't know me, and if he doesn't know me, he can't hate me." **

**The hate near the end of the sentence is supposed to be 'love.' Not hate. Sorry about that, don't know how I missed it…**

**Anyway, I see I have a reader from the Netherlands who read this _all the way through_. I don't think anyone else has done that, it's really not that good. But anyway, review, person-from-the-Netherlands, or I'll have to keep calling you person-from-the-Netherlands. And that's not good. **

**Ok, read and review, all! No flames, please, but if it's the only way you'll review, I'll accept it…this time…**


	12. Affections

**Disclaimer: I own Anita Heathers, Il'Guin, Romanius, and Skulduggery's gun's runes. That's it. Nothing else! I swear it! Not Death Note, or Skulduggery Pleasant, or even The Discworld series.**

12—Affections

Anita caught on fire.

Or, more precisely, her hair turned _into_ fire, leaping into the air, ending a foot above her head, her wings spread and the flame in the shafts of her feathers grew. Her eyes turned orange, streaked with blue. A charred spot formed on the concrete where she stood, Anita noticed sadly. Her powers were bound to the constraints of Skulduggery's world. But at least…at least she was still a Nafar, she supposed.

"And our battle forms can look like this!" Anita cried, and suddenly she _was_ fire, green fire which turned white near the top, in the shape of a human body.

All sound was drowned out, but in Anita's exultation and bliss she did not notice, Skulduggery's voice coming through foggily as he said, "Please don't burn my house down."

And then everything slowed, and it was pain, a pain in her chest and she didn't know why. Not knowing was, in that moment, the worst thing that could have happened. And she was falling, her power source exhausted. Thin hands caught her, and she was reminded of Valkyrie, the first time she had met the thin man to whom the hands belonged. The skeleton.

And all was dark.

(line break)

Anita woke on a couch, a her arms wrapped around a pillow and a blanked wrapped around _her_, feeling too cold. She probed inside of herself, looking for her spark, but found a void.

She wasn't dead, but her soulstone was gone. She _should_ have been dead. Nafar without soulstones were sent back from the Gounar, charred and falling to pieces. They were encased with ice as they died, staring forevermore into their daughter's helpless faces.

The flashbacks threatened to come back, so Anita stopped the line of thought. _"No reason to see them die again,"_ she thought. _"No reason at all."_

She opened her eyes, and started back when she saw the face watching her, shadows highlighting its eyes.

"Ryzaki!" Anita shouted. She was cut short by a dull, aching pain in her chest, and she saw what had happened.

"_Of course!"_ she exclaimed internally. _"I ran out of power! My soulstone must have ejected itself to avoid being consumed."_

"Is there anything you need?" Ryuzaki inquired as she sat up slowly.

"Well, a glass of water, but there's no tap. I'll make it, I think," Anita replied slowly.

"Or," Skulduggery argued, "I could just _make _you a glass of water." He held out a glass and water collected swiftly inside.

Valkyrie stepped in from a different room, phone in hand. "Silly, you aren't _making_ anything. You're just condensing it. Anyway, Ghastly found Tanith. She's been brought in, too," she told them. Turning to Anita, she continued, "So it's time for _you_ to prove what you've been saying you can do. Ghastly's got his hopes up, you know—you'd better deliver."

"Then I'd better practice. And I'll need that water, first," Anita declared. Skulduggery handed her the cup as Valkyrie and L frowned.

"Is that important to your magic somehow?" she asked.

Anita smiled, saying something over the water. It began to glow. "Yes, actually. This is where I get the power for my magic from," she answered before tilting her head back and draining the glass. "Now, before I explain, has anyone seen a soulstone about here?"

Ryuzaki nodded and held out his hand. "Would you care to tell us why it came out?" he queried.

"Well, the magic a Nafar works comes from a reservoir of power. At least, the energy for the _spell_ does. Anyway, complexities aside, when that power runs out, something needs to be consumed for our spells. It's a choice of soul or life at that point, and life would leave us dead quickly. But a soulstone is sentient on a level—it'll flee to save the soul it holds," Anita explained.

Valkyrie nodded, asking, "And then to keep the body alive, the Nafar passes out so no magic can be done and use up the life force?"

"Yes, exactly!" Anita cried gleefully. Then she took the stone and closed her eyes. It dissolved into a mist and she re-absorbed it. The dull ache in her chest faded and light sparked in her eyes, Skulduggery saw once she had opened them again. "But for one second, may I speak to Ryuzaki—alone?"

Skulduggery seemed startled, and Valkyrie narrowed her eyes. "Why?" she asked.

"I need to see about something. It really doesn't matter—don't worry, it's not about Il'Guin or Nu'Undech or anything," Anita assured them.

Skulduggery nodded silently and stepped out of the room reluctantly, taking Valkyrie along by the wrist.

Anita waited for a few seconds to make sure no-one was about to burst into the room, then leaned to Ryuzaki, whispering in his ear. She spoke fast, he noticed. "Ok, so you know I'm Nu'Undech—no, don't answer, just let me finish, then talk quietly—and I'm supposed to kill the Nafar. If I become her, thousands will die. I can't let that happen, but I'm not sure I can stop her. I need to be able to trust you to do something for me."

Ryuzaki hesitated, not sure what she was about to ask, but getting some sort of sense of it anyway. When she didn't start talking again, he assumed she was done and responded in her ear, "That would depend on what it was you wanted me to do."

His stomach sank as she confirmed his worries.

"If Nu'Undech resurfaces, you have to kill me." He started to argue, but she continued, "Look, I need someone I can trust. Please! Don't let me become a killer. I'd be as bad as Kira—maybe worse! I would end up killing thousands of innocent people out of pure spite and hatred! Don't let me become that…please…"

Her voice was choked, and Ryuzaki flinched as something wet hit his shoulder. She was _crying_. He wasn't used to feeling strong emotions, and had no way to express them because of it. He could tell, by analysis of her body language and facial expressions (he could be a whiz at analyzing emotions even if he didn't feel them strongly, after all) that she had taken it as a lack of feeling on his part. But now he felt…angry. Angry at the world that she hurt in the way that she did.

He put his arms around her awkwardly, not sure what else he could do. He remembered being told, once, by another of her husbands, that being patted on the back only aggravated her and made it worse, so he simply sat there, with her slowly breaking down. She cried silently, though, and was completely still—the only thing that showed her distress was the tears that fell faster and faster onto his shirt.

Slowly, her tears slowed and stopped. Slowly, she started to pull away, but his arms would not let her go. He forced them to loosen, and she slipped around so she sat comfortably. She pulled away, then, and stood wordlessly, walking to the doorway. She looked through at Skulduggery and Valkyrie, who stood together in each other's arms, just standing there.

She stepped back and turned to face where L had been, only to see white in her face. Arms gripped her gently but firmly, wings and all, and she realized that he had remembered more than she had given him credit for. He seemed to have forgotten about Nu'Undech, but other than that…

"Do you remember our wedding?" he asked abruptly. His voice was soft, gentle, and (perhaps for the first time that she had ever actually _heard_) not in a monotone.

Anita didn't answer for a long moment, her arms wrapping around his torso. When she did speak, it was quiet, with a small laugh. "Barely. I remember the reception, mostly. And you kept biting the sleeve of your jacket, trying to pull it so it was comfortable. The rabbi couldn't get you to stop! And…"

Ryuzaki looked down at her face. It was peaceful. She seemed more relaxed than she had been the entire time he had seen her. "Yes?" he prompted.

"I vaguely remember the vows, but I remember you said…oh, god, what was it? 'Before I met you, I didn't trust many people. Around you, my paranoia melts away.'" Anita sighed contentedly. She frowned suddenly. "And there was something else…God, I can't believe I have such a bad memory…I'm sorry, you must think I'm a terrible wife!"

"Not at all. And the other thing I said was 'I never felt much emotion before, but you bring out the color of my heart, because you are the color of my heart. I love you, and you bring out the best in me. I will always be here for you.' I tried to write those for so long, and then you said something that sparked everything all at once. That was it, you know. I didn't think we needed more of a vow recital than that," L informed her.

Anita blushed a bit, letting her head rest on his chest. She could heard Skulduggery and Valkyrie talking in the next room, but it didn't matter. Not now. _"Let them have their moment while we have ours,"_ she thought.

She felt his fingers, one hand in her hair, the other hand letting its digits float gently through her feathers. The sensation sent a tremor through her body. For so long, she had lived off of the thought of something like this—and that thought was often enough to give her a shiver. But now…it felt so _right_, so _complete_ that she couldn't dream of anything else. She looked up at his face to see his small, feline smile playing across his lips as he looked down at her.

Anita felt a tug at her heart, but the love that had been bittersweet for so long was as pure and sweet as honey. She rose up on her feet a little, letting her hands move of their own accord to his hair, tangling in the dark peaks at the back of L's head, and her lips met his, her eyes sliding closed.

The familiar taste of strawberries and butter cream frosting lifted her heart, for, familiar though it was, it was the first time she could taste it…or feel the response. He kissed her greedily after only a moment's hesitation, as if he had been waiting for her to initiate this, or had known she would, at the very least.

Her mouth opened inadvertently, but then his tongue went along hers, sliding into her mouth gently. Remembering, it seemed, about her easy-to-trigger gag reflux, he stayed away from the back of her mouth, but the tip of his tongue caressed the roof of her mouth. His kiss calmed a bit, the hunger fulfilled, but his hands were on her face gently now and he withdrew his tongue, ending the kiss slowly.

Anita smiled, pulling in her wings—which had straightened out in her bliss. L's hand rested on the top of her back, under the tops of her wings, the other sliding along her cheek and through her hair to rest lightly on the back of her head. She slid one hand down to rest in the small of his back.

Anita pushed away slowly, reluctantly, saying, "I need to get some more water."

"Are you low on power just from that?" Ryuzaki asked innocently.

"Do my ears deceive me? Did you just crack a joke? Anyway, no, I'm just thirsty—I haven't had much to drink all day, and I'm starting to get a dehydration headache," Anita smiled, walking over to the table and picking up the empty glass. With a wave of her hand, the glass filled.

She didn't mutter this time before taking a sip, and the water did not glow. Noticing the darkness of the room, Ryuzaki started to search along the walls for a light switch. He had seen one earlier…

The lights flicked on to reveal a skeleton. But it wasn't Skulduggery. This one held a scythe, and his black cowl framed a skull with blue sparks in the sockets, which glowed dangerously bright.

**A/N: So, we have another character showing up. I thought he would be next, and I've wanted to introduce him for a while now, but seeing as Ryuzaki (so far, you won't get me to say anything about this new character yet!) has the most memory, it wasn't fair that Skulduggery got more of Anita's affections.**

**And I think it's fair to say this has no logic and Anita is a complete Mary-Sue. So you all hereby have my full permission to laugh at it as you read and wonder what the heck I was thinking. (Truth is, there's nothing but wish fulfillment in this one…oh, except for her parents being dead. That would make me _very sad_. But Skulduggery, and Ryuzaki, and this new guy who will not yet be named are all wishes. HAH!) Oh, and pass on the allowance for laughing to your friends if you have them read this. Go right on ahead, really—I'm happy so long as someone reads this!**


	13. Memories Lost

**Disclaimer: I do not own Skulduggery Pleasant, Death Note, or the Discworld series**

13—Memories Lost

Anita stared. Her husband, Death, he stood before her, and she could not feel his soul. With all of them, in order to save their life she had switched souls with them, resulting in a mixing which led to them being able to sense each other's souls. Now, most likely, she couldn't switch souls any more, but still she should be able to sense souls with which she was mixed.

A quick check verified that, yes, she could feel Ryuzaki's next to her and Skulduggery's in the next room.

"I NEED TO SEE THE ONE KNOWN AS 'LIFE,' 'THE IMAGINER,' AND 'ANITA HEATHERS' NOW," Death said. For the first time, his voice hurt as is went straight to being registered without first being heard, his eyes burned hers. He was not the Death she knew, the old familiar Death, the Death that had held her as nightmares ran across the planes of her mind.

When she spoke, her voice came out as a squeak. "W-why?"

"THE AUDITORS HAVE SEEN THAT YOU ARE NOT COMPLETING YOUR FULL DUTIES. SOMEONE, AN ENEMY OF YOURS, DIED, AND HE DID NOT COME BACK."

Serpine! But if he didn't come back, it meant she couldn't revive anymore. And in order for her to be allowed to exist, she couldn't allow for people to kill her enemies. Not ever.

Skulduggery stepped out of the kitchen, Valkyrie next to him. They froze upon seeing the invader. Before Anita could speak, Skulduggery's gun was out.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" he asked smoothly. The gun did not waver.

Without even turning around, without a single movement, Death replied, "THAT DOES NOT CONCERN MORTAL MEN SUCH AS YOU."

"Mortal!" Skuluggery cried in rage, and he was pulling the trigger. Anita tried to step forward, to stop the bullet, but she was not fast enough. It went through Death as if he were a ghost, crashing into the wall. Anita silently thanked God that she had made the runes only for living things.

"He means that you can die, Skulduggery," Anita told him shakily. "And he's right. I wouldn't test him—this isn't the Death we know."

L frowned slightly. "Death _we _know? You mean…?" he let the question trail off, unasked and unanswered.

"I HAVE NEVER KNOWN YOU. I WOULD REMEMBER IF I DID," Death informed her.

"Not necessarily. There is more at work here than you and I amount to," Anita said. And then she felt the change. Her borders became sharper, her skin went greyer, and the angle of her cheekbones became crueler. She had become Life.

"I did not kill him. It is not necessary for me to revive all. There was no duty for me there. If the auditors wish it, though…" Life told him, and her voice was the harsh rasp of a hundred dehydrated voices. Locust swarms and the cry of young children frolicked in the sound of it. Life held out a hand, a light appeared at the end of her fingers, and she lifted her face to Death. 

"There. It is done. And now," she said, taking a step closer, "do you really not remember me? Let your memories…LIVE!"

Life's hand went to Death's head, and he let out a cry that echoed off of the walls, nearly collapsing. With a hiss, Life pulled her hand back. Her fingers were blackened, charred.

And then the grey was gone, the edges smoothed, and Anita staggered back until she hit the couch, unable to stop herself. Her hand was red and shiny, but not charred any more. Life howled inside of her, slowly consumed, and Anita ran to Death's side as he finally collapsed.

He may no longer be the Death she was wed to, but she still couldn't sit and watch him die. Voices yelled around her, but the words did not register. They were nothing but sound.

How could she heal Death? He was not alive, he was not dead…perhaps it was a matter of energy? She called up a Black Flame, the fire of death energy, and cast it on the reaper. But even as she did so, she realized, _"This is not the world I know. What is this place? This world of pain and worry, of blood and flesh and bone, this is not my home world! This is not what I thought it to be!"_

And then she heard hissing sand, and they were in the room of the life timers. She stood, yelling for Albert at the top of her lungs.

The man who was once a wizard stepped forward, muttering, "Can't believe the master's let a mortal in the room, doesn't he remember the last time he did, it never ended well and now Teatime keeps showing up…"

He let everything trail off when he saw Anita, face pale and written all over with fright, and Death, unconscious on the floor.

"What did you do to him, girl?" Albert cried.

Anita swallowed. "I touched him. When I was Life. I let Life touch Death…" She started to chuckle for no reason, the situation suddenly seeming bizarre. She looked down at Death's body, and her distress and terror only made her laugh harder.

Suddenly, in this world apart from the Disc or any other world, a world where a magic closer to hers was possible, she knew she could conjure again, and so she brought up a black rose, and then stared at it, chuckling quietly again.

Slowly her laughter petered out as she gazed at nothing. Stars blazed in front of her eyes when a bony hand slapped her cheek. She looked up from the floor where she had fallen and remembered, suddenly, Mort. Would she die, or, like him, be spared?

"THAT," Death told her, "WAS FOR LETTING ME FORGET YOU. AND THIS," (he pulled her up by the hand, planting a bony kiss on her cheek) "IS BECAUSE I FELT LIKE IT. NOW GO. WITH THE CHANGING TIDES, I THINK I SHOULD NOT HAVE REMEMBERED. I _DO_ STILL HAVE TO DO THE DUTY, YOU KNOW."

Anita smiled before it hit her. She was losing him.

"Is this goodbye for forever?" she asked.

"PROBABLY NOT. AT THE VERY LEAST, YOU'LL DIE EVENTUALLY, YES?"

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't. I am supposed to be immortal, but I get the feeling that that's gone now…"

"THEN YOU SHOULD BE CAREFUL. NOW, BE HOME…" Anita disappeared before she could hear the reaper add, "…MY LOVE."

**A/N: Ok, so that was _incredibly_ fluffy, in my opinion. Ah, well, so be it. I think will show up next. Or maybe no one else will show up because of . That's right, I am consistently not telling you ANYTHING. Now, until I get one more review, I will not update. So if you like this, you'll review (and, yes, anonymous reviews count) so that I keep writing. **


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